Mycenaean Art And Minoan Culture

German art historian, Johann Joachim Winckelmann (18th century), speculated that “Greek art, like Greek poetry, has according to Scaliger, four principal periods.” He goes on to explain there are different types of Greek art such as the “grand and lofty”. Put of the four mentioned styles, it is clear the option which pertains most greatly to sculpture was after the previously mentioned style, where artists “acquired more grace and pleasingness. This style should be named the beautiful.” He later explains that the last style is imitators, likely referring the Roman’s remakes of Greek sculptures, which infers sculpture became a more important part of society (after the Romans took over) due to the fact they considered them worth recreating.

Another example of outstanding artwork of Minoan was the painted sarcophagus which found in HagiaTriada (Crete). It represented funerary ritual as seen on the figures, but they never left their sense of art like we see on the frame. On foot of the sarcophagus, Minoan painted beautiful rhythmic motif like a wave. On the top and the below of the main picture, another motif were drawn like a line of flowers. They used geometric shaped like circle, rectangle and box, also various kind of strokes. Moreover, they painted this with lots of color like light blue, orange, brown-red and many

In the Bronze Age paintings and specially the Minoan we began to realize how realistic they look and how they are showing movement. We can see that in paintings of landscapes, sport events or even a story or a ritual. Some of the Minoan art is different from each other but some are quite similar in style, technique or in motifs. In this essay we will be showing the similarity of style between the Hagia Triada sarcophagus and the Minoan palace frescoes paintings.

Civilization flourished during the Neolithic period (7,000-3,000 BCE) (Orfeas Organisation-Greece, n.d.). The Bronze Age (3,000-1,100 BCE.), “saw major advances in social, economic, and technological advances that made Greece the hub of activity in the Mediterranean” (History of Greece: Bronze Age, n.d.). During this time period, there were three different civilizations that identified people at this time. These three civilizations were called the Cycladic civilization which was developed in the Aegean Islands; the Minoans which occupied Crete; and the Helladic which was the civilization of the Greek midland (History of Greece: Bronze Age, n.d.). The Helladic civilization was also called the “Age of Hero’s”, during the Mycenaean era. The Helladic civilization was the source of the mythological heroes such as Hercules, and epics such as the Odyssey (History of Greece: Bronze Age, n.d.). The considered first most advanced civilization in Europe was the Minoans (History of Greece: Bronze Age, n.d.). The Mycenaean philosophy (para. 2) “had a great deal of influence with its legends and Greek language on what later became the splendor of Classical Greece” (History of Greece: Bronze Age, n.d.). The culture that outlasted the Cyclades and the Minoans where the Mycenaeans. They had lengthened their impact over the mainland, Aegean Islands, Crete and the shore of Asia Minor by the end of the 10th c.

The two stylistic periods represented in this study, are the Geometric period and archaic period leading into the early Classical period. The Geometric period was a time of renaissance that took place around 900-700 BC (after the fall of the Mycenaeans.) This was a time where the Greek Islands were experiencing growth, urbanization, and political division, as well as exploration of new lands, trade, and a stronger development of written and spoken language. Homer’s epic tale the Iliad was believed to be written around this time. The Geometric period gave rise to a greater amount of worship of multiple gods, creating the need for more temples to store votives (such as the Mantiklos Apollo) that were dedicated to these deities. The geometric period can be identified by their use of repeated registers of geometric shapes on pottery, and symmetrical and triangular shapes in sculpture. Most sculptures and pottery at this time were formulated using bronze or terracotta. The second style is from the late archaic/early

The Minoans were recognized for their symbolism relating nature and their culture. This was evident during the Prehistoric Aegean, where Minoan art was immense with motifs of nature present in their art. Some examples range from the snake goddess, the bull, the horns of consecration, and other animal associations of the like. The rhyta present in Minoan art were used in religious rituals consisting of liquid offerings being poured and were widely prominent with the elite and at the palace at Knossos. The “Terracotta vase in the form of a bull's head”, demonstrates the importance of the bull in relation to their culture and religious rituals that took place during the Late Minoan II period on Crete.

Minoan Art. (n.d.). Sculpture and Art in Ancient Greece. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Sculpture/

Greek art took many ideas from Egypt and Mesopotamia however as the years passed they started to develop and create their own unique style. This style was more realistic and natural visually. One of their goals was for the viewer to believe they are seeing a moment standing still in time. You can see this when you compare Kroisos from, Anavysos Greece, and Doryphorus from Pompeii, Italy. These pieces are roughly dated 80 years apart however the difference between the two-forms are so remarkable. This paper will be discussing and addressing the evolution of a more naturalistic art form, from the statue of Kroisos compared to the statue of Doryphorus during the Greek art period. At a first glance of the statues you may not see the dramatic differences between the two however they were both approached in different ways to be created. They have different meanings yet both were created to be more naturalistic than what came before it.

Two countries, located side by side in the Mediterranean sea. They share a similar climate, the Mediterranean sun, and many of the same landscapes. With overlapping histories, they both have a shared but unique heritage, which is reflected in their cuisine.

The great Minoan civilization of Crete formed around palaces such as those at Knossos, Phaestus, Ayia Triada, and Tyliossos. The extremely important Palace of Minos at Knossos gives us crucial evidence of a continuous architectural brilliance and highly developed artistic sense, bringing together all aspects of architectural style, art, and innovation during the Minoan period between 1700 BCE and 1580 BCE and continuing until the invasion of the Achaeans in the 12th century BCE (Britannica Encyclopedia). The most famous palace is the palace of Minos of Knossos which demonstrates a specific arrangement of blocks:

As an island civilization, the peace-loving Minoans focused almost solely on trade. However, the Mycenaeans were were concerned with warfare and advanced their civilizations through conquest, as well as trade. This is evident in their architectures, as the high walls and narrow passages of Mycenaean architecture appear to be more defensive than aesthetic nature. Furthermore, their home city state was constructed upon a large mountain, aiding the defensive nature of the civilization. Also, their art often depicts forms of warfare, The Warrior Vase and the lion hunt dagger for instance. On the other hand, the Minoans had very open architecture, especially the Palace at Knossos. Moreover, most of the Minoan art depicts different animals and creatures of the sea, as well as people acting to further life, rather than take

2. In the Aegean world, Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations emerged. Minoan civilization on the island of Crete was influenced by eastern civilizations as shown in the textbook, “the distribution of Cretan pottery and other artifacts around the Mediterranean and Middle East testifies to widespread trading connections. Egyptian, Syrian, and Mesopotamian influences can be seen in the design of the Minoan palaces, centralized government, and system of writing” page 76,

Mycenaean- emerged in Greece, rocky and arid climate, with small plains lying between ranges of hills meant it was only able to grow grains, grapevines and olive trees, transport came through the sea, most supplies had to be imported, as result the rise and fall of the society was closely tied to commercial and political situations with other regions, Greek culture is a blend of indigenous people and Indo-European language speakers, was a static nation living in the stone age till 1600 B.C.E., adopted Minoan ideas of palaces, centralized economy, administrative bureaucracy, writing, architecture, pottery and vase painting, it is believed piracy funded the nation, fortified palaces were built on hills surrounded by walls, graves were beehive shaped, great sailing abilities, evidence suggests that Minoans pioneered sea routes, then Mycenaean people used the same routes and eventually replaced them completely with trade

Without doubt the accumulation of wealth, more complex government and city organization and very much clear social class formation system in the same period the findings of more elaborate and fine art occur on a regular basis, such as Etruscan magnificent tomb wall paintings. From archeological findings data, approximately 2% of tombs were painted, that underline the conclusion that just few – elite families could afford such luxury. The paintings are applied either directly to the stone wall or onto a thin base layer of plaster wash with the artists first drawing outlines using chalk or charcoal. The information we could gather from those art findings bring us to the daily life of the elite class and overall social group at those times, by

Marble, limestone, bronze, terra-cotta, wood and a combination of gold and ivory known as chryselephantine were mediums of ancient Greek sculptures used in the fifth century BCE. Statues were often adorned with pearl, gold, jewels and accessories to give them a more vivid appearance. Most statues were of male men athletes (naked), entities and mythological creatures such as centaurs. Many statues of significant figures were created after their death. Interest in the female nude body (divinity) later became more popular amongst Greek sculptors. In the fourth century, characterization came into play. Characterization focused on creating sculptures that were of no real person.