Early Aegean Sculpture and Pottery

The Prehistoric Aegean ** Cyclades ** Knossos ** Thera ** Phaistos ** ** Hagia Triada ** Tiryns ** Mycenae**

The Early Cycladic Figures Made of the abundant local marble, found on Naxos & Paros. Most were statues of nude women with their arms folded, like many Stone Age examples. Traces of paint are found on several. Believed to be funerary offerings. Male figures include the lyre player from Keros. 2700-2500 BCE 

Cycladic Art– 2700-2500 BCE Stylistic characteristics of the Bronze Age statuettes from the Cyclades: a. strikingly abstract b. human body rendered in highly schematized manner c. originally painted in bright colors

Cycladic Art … Resemblances with 20th cen. works Wilhelm Lehmbruck   Henry Moore

Aegean Art Two distinct cultures developed along the Aegean Sea around 1500 B.C. when Egyptian and Mesopotamia cultures were fluorishing. Minoans – Island of Crete – after the Cretan King, King Minos Mycenaeans – mainland Greece Minoans were by far the richest of the Aegean civilizations – relaxed, luxurious culture seen in their frescos – minoan art is marked by a graceful sense of ease and a delight in all forms of life - palaces – most important at Knossos called the Palace of Minos. - Middle Minoan palaces destroyed around 1700 BCE—earthquake? Mycenaeans were warriors instead of traders – built citadels and fortesses –instead of palaces – Mycenaean art and monuments reflect a protected and fortified environment

Minoan Pottery Themes Aspects of Cretan life – processions and ceremonies Pottery Often was decorated with designs of sea, plant and animal life – octopus, dolphins, birds, animals and flowers Rhythmic quality influenced by the sea Art has a quality of light spontaneity and freely shaped forms

Minoan Pottery Crete Sea Life on Pottery – Kamares ware -- Phaistos Used potters’ wheels [new] creamy white & reddish brown. 1’ 8” hight Inspired octopus vase from Palaikastro ca. 1500 BCE 11” high

Pilgrim flask or stirrup jar Pilgrim flask or stirrup jar. Made out of two similar leather-hard bowls, to produce the globe-like shape. Octopus tentacles grasp the globular shape convincingly, emphasizing the rounded form. Dated to the close of the 16th cent.BC.ht.28cm

Minoan Pottery The Harvester Vase: finest surviving example of Minoan relief sculpture. ca. 1500 BCE Only have the upper half and neck of the vase Mostly profile/frontal with the exception of the man beating time. Obvious study of human anatomy.

Minoan Sculpture Goddess or Priestess? “Snake Goddess” Knossos 1600 BCE (No large temples found in Minoan Crete.) Made of faience [glazed earthenware] Bare breasts suggest fertility function– leopard on head suggests power over nature. .

Minoan Sculpture Sculpture in gold and ivory – probably imported from Egypt. Another serpent woman Young “god” from Palaikastro 1500-1475 BCE

Decline of Minoan Civilization Mycenaeans may have moved into Knossos, Crete at end of the new palace period around 1400 BCE Knossos destroyed around 1200 BCE Focus moved to the mainland: Distinctive Mycenaean culture existed by 1300 BCE Giant citadels were built—Mycenae was only one. Best preserved are Tiryns & Mycenae, started around 1400 BCE [Homer knew of Tiryns] The heavy walls contrasted with the open Cretan palaces.

Mycenean Art and Architecture The Lion Gate: forced attackers into a narrow channel. Formed of 2 monoliths and a lintel with the triangular relief of lions and columns with a corbelled arch above This kind of guardianship goes back to Egypt & Assyria.

Minyan Ware Myceneans produced wheel-made pottery called Minyan Ware Commonly Gray Beautiful designs refinement of existing more primitive gray pottery of earlier inhabitants of occupied lands? Soapy to the touch Made in imitation of a metal original Sharp flanges sliced against a turning wheel Wider at top than at bottom (unlike Minoan) Minyan Ware

Spirals, bands, fish, vegetable life and greater use of human figures to decorate pottery Engraved figures show pairs of animals Mass produced to satisfy enormous demand in Greece and abroad Naturalistic motifs on pottery evolved into purely abstract patterns with frequent use of thick black lines running horizontally round the vessel -- 13th century Minyan Ware

Favorite shapes -- 13th century Pilgrim flask -- used to hold liquid False-necked jar (stirrup jar) -- used to hold liquid Small jugs Goblets Large bowls decorated with chariots or animal scenes -- Zoomorphic vases fabricated for the Cypriot market Styles after 1200 B.C. Close style — entire surface of the vessel was covered with decoration Granary style — painted decoration kept to a bare minimum Pottery was decorated in a style that was becoming more and more logical and abstract and less realistic

The scene shown on both sides of this krater follows the tradition of Mycenaean chariot representations from the beginning of the fourteenth century B.C. Two tall figures wearing long, spotted robes stand in a chariot drawn by a pair of horses. Flecks of paint on the box of the chariot may indicate that it was covered with the hide of an ox. The horses follow the convention of Mycenaean vase painting: when two horses are meant to be represented, the painter, in an attempt to show perspective, depicts only one body, with two tails, two pairs of hindlegs and forelegs, and two heads. Stylized, high-stemmed flowers or abstract motifs decorate the background of the scene. To the right of the chariot, a female figure wearing a long robe stands with both arms raised and fingers splayed in what must be a meaningful gesture. Her breasts are rendered as two spirals and the features of her face resemble those of the figures in the chariot. Most likely she is bidding goodbye to departing warriors, a familiar scene on earlier chariot kraters.

Large numbers of Mycenaean vases start appearing in the Cypriot market at the beginning of the fourteenth century B.C., perhaps as a result of intensive trade relations between the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean regions. Some of these luxury wares may have been exchanged for Cypriot copper. The krater was a popular form found almost exclusively in tombs on Cyprus and usually decorated in the pictorial style, with human and animal figures notably in chariot scenes. Mycenaean vases , especially decorated kraters, had great appeal among wealthy Cypriots and other Near Easterners. Sometimes as many as half of the gifts in fourteenth- and thirteenth-century B.C. tombs consist of Mycenaean pottery. these continued to be placed in tombs on Cyprus and the Levantine coast as late as about 1200 B.C., when trade relations between the Aegean and the Near East became restricted as the result of political turmoil.

Beak-spouted jug (1400–1350 BCE) This is an outstanding example of Mycenaean pottery, named after the southern Greek city of Mycenae, the most important centre of a palatial culture of the Late Bronze Age.

Vase from mycenaean cemetary at Prosymna, Argos, grave 2, 15 cent BC

Warriors’ Vase – Mycenae ca. 1200 BCE Form is a ”krater”, a bowl for mixing wine and water. No indication of settings and a return to the repetitive forms of earlier eras. indicator of a more abstracted style to come.

The Warrior Krater late 13th cent. BC, terracotta The Warrior Krater late 13th cent. BC, terracotta.   Front view: six warriors, each armed with a small shield and a spear and clad in chiton, short breastplate and helmet

Mycenaean Terracotta Figurines

Mycenaean terra cotta figurines - are unique - found in great numbers Mycenaean terra cotta figurines - are unique - found in great numbers. - most common type is a female figure - decorated like designs on pottery. - usually covered in vertical stripes, - three basic types are named after the letters of the Greek alphabet which they resemble, Phi, Psi, and Tau, Psi figurines - earliest type - arms extended in a crescent - Phi - disc-shaped garment and armless - Tau - latest.

Found in cemeteries and settlements or Mycenaean cult area - Some may represent divine beings while others were perhaps simply dedications. - Other types of figurines - bovine animals, horses and riders, oxen and riders, chariots, and groups including paired female figures - large figurines considered to be idols

A typical Mycenaean artifact is the small clay figurine, most often fashioned in the crude shape of a woman but sometimes assuming various animal shapes. Such figures have been found in very large numbers at Mycenaean sites, especially in tombs; they may have served as votives, but their exact purpose is unknown

Metal work Metal work was the Mycenaean’s greatest achievement. Mycenaean Metal-workers made golden artifacts often with engraved gems showing pairs of animals Thin gold cups from Vaphio— slightly south of Sparta – reliefs illustrated capturing of bulls Gold death masks Bronze daggers found in shaft graves Bronze shields, swords, spears, armor Scarabs and gold rings — found in tombs

Metal work "The most magnificent of the status items were the work of the Mycenaean goldsmiths. A gold cup, an offering vessel in the shape of a lion’s head, gold tiaras and decorative gold discs that were sewn on to women’ dresses like huge sequins, and the extraordinary beaten-gold face masks found in some of the royal graves are the best examples. The masks in particular are intriguing, sine they give… suggestive glimpses of the actual faces of the Mycenaean rulers — the features certainly vary enough to make it likely that these are lifelike portraits; they are certainly not designed to flatter their subjects."

Other Mycenaean Art Frescoes such as Boar Hunt at Tiryns The Mycenaeans borrowed the techniques of wall painting, pottery decoration and seal-making from the Minoans. Ivory carving — peaked c. 1400-1200 boxes plaques free-standing groups