Museum Visit next class, Wed, September 17. Meet at Menil Don’t be late! I’ll give you the sheet of questions upon arrival. Please turn it to me next Monday. Take advantage of the time.

Menil Visit, Next Wednesday The Menil Collection 1533 Sul Ross St Houston, TX 77006

Museum Visit: (& Thinking about Group Project) 1.Consider role of the curator. How do they acquire objects? What is the timeline on display? 2.Context: how does the museum setting, overall and individually with each com communicate the object’s significance? (via chronological organization, lighting, labels, display, etc.) 3.How would the object function within ancient society? 4.What do you see that you encountered in your textboook and what artwork is new?

5.How well does the museum represent Near East, Egypt, and Aegean cultures? Where are the gaps?

Near East Mainland Aegean Art

Aegean area relative to Near East, Europe and Egypt Egypt Near East

3 Aegean cultures: Cyclades; small islands; peak = Bronze Age, c BCE; characterized by marble figures, mostly women and musicians Minoan; Crete; peak = 1900 – 1450 BCE; characterized by elaborate buildings, colorful paintings, work in precious materials Mycenae; Mainland Greece; peak = 1600 – 1100 BCE; characterized by fortified citadels, tombs, gold and bronze work c – 900 BCE; period of turmoil in the region caused most of their written record to be lost or forgotten, so little was known about these cultures until the 19 th century when a couple archeologists inspired by Homer’s Illiad and Odyssey decided to search for the actual locations of those stories.

Cyclades; c BCE -small islands in the Aegean Sea (approx. 30) -origins of the culture are obscure, but thriving culture by late Neolithic/early Bronze Age -sea faring people; items found on shipwrecks indicate trade with Egypt and Near East -most identified with carved white marble figurines, usually of women (left) and musicians (below) -some male figures found, including musicians and acrobats -small size might be b/c the stone fractured easily -carvings originally painted -harpist is fully developed sculpture-in-the-round, though still simplified form

Cycladic sculpture, Menil Collection, Houston

Minoan Civilization on Crete; c BCE to Crete: largest island in the Aegean -Discovered by 19 th century British archeologist Sir Arthur Evans; he named it Minoan after the legend of King Minos (whose wife had a half- man, half-monster son with god Poseidon; Minotaur) -Knossos; palace complex -Culture divided into 2 periods: -Old Palace, c – 1700 BCE -New Palace, c – 1450 BCE

Palace Complex at Knossos; as it would have appeared (reconstructed above) during the New Palace Period Palace was rebuilt from Old Palace Period after it was destroyed by earthquakes and fires

Kamares Ware Jug; Minoan, Old Palace; c BCE; ~11” tall Pendant of Gold Bees; Minoan, Old Palace; c BCE; ~2” high

New Palace Period: c BCE -Palace at Knossos rebuilt after c eruption on Cycladic island of Thera and earthquake destroyed most of it -New Palace period considered “flowering of Minoan art” -Later Greek legends referred to the palace as the “Labyrinth,” which means “house of the double axes.” The double axe motif was used throughout the palace. The palace layout was so complex and confusing that labyrinth eventually came to mean maze, and became part of the Minotaur myth. -Confusing layout possibly designed for defense; also partially the result of successive rebuilding and additions over the centuries

New Palace painting: Characterized by colorful wall murals called Frescos buon fresco; painted on wet plaster fresco secco; painted on dry plaster Preferred colors: red, yellow, black, white, green and blue Flat areas of color and outlined shapes Much inspiration from the natural world and turned natural forms into stylized decorative patterns

Bull Leaping Wall painting with areas of modern reconstruction Height approx. 24 ½“ Late Minoan period, c. 1550–1450 BCE From the palace complex, Knossos, Crete

Minoan sculpture: -Usually small -Carved from wood, ivory, precious metals, stone and faience (like Egyptian hippo) -Woman with Snakes found at Knossos (New Palace); ~12” high. Faience. -Found in a storage pit with other ceremonial objects -Typical flounced Minoan skirt -Scholars don’t know if this represents a goddess or a human priestess/attendant

RhytonRhyton: vessel for pouring liquid -Minoans carved them from steatite (greenish or brown soap stone) -Almost certainly for ceremonial purposes -May have been covered in gold leaf Harvester Vase; New Palace period; 4 ½” diameter -Shows lively depiction of the figures in space, with open mouths (chanting)

Minoan; New Palace period Bull’s-Head Rhyton Steatite with shell rock crystal and red jasper the gilt-wood horns restored height 12" c.1550–1450 BCE Very realistic rendering of the bull—detail and realism not seen since prehistoric cave paintings in Europe

Minoan New Palace Ceramics: tradition of Old Palace Kamares ware continues. Decoration is more naturalistic, loose “Marine style”- depicts sea life Minoan New Palace Metalwork: Minoan metalworkers were highly sought after by the Myceneans (culture from mainland, gaining power by 1400 BCE) This cup, found on mainland, either made by Minoans, or by Minoan trained metalworker

MycenaeansMycenaeans: -On the mainland (of what became Greece), a Greek-speaking people moved in from the North c BCE and displaced the Neolithic culture there -Culture referred to by scholars as Helladic (from the word Hellas, the Greek name for Greece) -Culture existed concurrently with Cycladic and Minoan cultures in the Aegean -By 1450 BCE; Minoan culture in the Aegean is in decline, Mycenaeans came to dominate the Aegean -derive their name from the city of Mycenae -Mycenaean rule c – 1100 BCE

-Mycenean architecture differs from Minoan in that they built well fortified citadels for protection -Also buried their dead in elaborate, vaulted tombs made of cut stone -Site occupied since Neolithic times -Walls rebuilt 3x from 1340 – 1200 BCE— each time, stronger and enclosed more space Lion Gate; installed in 1250 BCE wall construction

Lion Gate; c BCE, Mycenaean -Opens to “Great Ramp”—formal entranceway into the citadel -Similar to Near Eastern entry-ways with lion/animal guardian figures, but significance of these animals is not really known

Mycenean Tombs: Became most sophisticated architectural structures of the entire Aegean period -Earliest burials in shaft graves; ft deep -Wealthy dead were laid out with jewelry and other riches -Mask of Agamemnon found in a shaft grave

Other fine metalwork found in shaft graves: -Dagger Blade (above) -Golden Lion’s Head Rhyton (right)

By 1600 BCE, on the mainland, rulers began to be buried in above-ground burial places called tholos tombs, or beehive tombs, because of their rounded, conical shape -More than 100 such tombs have been found Treasury of Atreus; c BCE -One of most grand tholos tombs -Original entrance 34’ high with 16’ door, faced with bronzed plaques