Chapter Two Part 1Greece Aegean,Minoan

Prepared by Kelly Donahue-Wallace

Randal WallaceUniversity of North Texas

Gardner's Art through the Ages, Concise Edition by Fred Kleiner

PrehistoricAegean ArtDates and Places: • 2500-1200BCE• Cyclades Islands,

Crete, Peloponnesos People:• Kings, priests, warriors• Described in Homer’s

IliadSnake Goddess, ca. 1600BCE. Fig. 2-8.

Prehistoric Aegean ArtThemes:• Human figures• Nature• Funerary offerings • Palaces and citadelsForms:• Formal conventions

vary• Post-and-lintel and

masonry construction Stairwell in the residential quarter at the palace at Knossos, ca. 1700-1400BCE. Fig.

2-4

Prehistoric Aegean: Cycladic Dates and Places: • 2500-1700BCE• Cyclades Islands

People:• Little known

Example:• Schematic figures• Painted funerary

offerings Figurine of a woman, ca. 2500-2300BCE. Fig. 2-2.

Prehistoric Aegean: Minoan Dates and Places: • 1700-1200BCE• Island of Crete

People:• Palace builders• Prosperous• Rituals involving

animalsOctopus jar, ca. 1500BCE. Fig. 2-7.

Prehistoric Aegean: Minoan

Aerial view of the palace at Knossos, ca. 1700-1400BCE. Fig. 2-3.

Prehistoric Aegean: MinoanExample: • Labyrinthine yet open

palace plan• Light and air wells• Open courtyard• Wood columns with

bulbous capitals• Administrative,

commercial and religious center

Aerial view of the palace at Knossos, ca. 1700-1400BCE. Fig. 2-3.

Prehistoric Aegean: Minoan

Bull-leaping from the palace at Knossos, ca. 1450-1400BCE. Fig. 2-4.

Prehistoric Aegean: MinoanExample: • Palace fresco paintings

of people and nature• Conventional

representations by gender

• Minoan figures slender and animated

Bull-leaping from the palace at Knossos, ca. 1450-1400BCE.

Fig. 2-4.