Minoan Realities
| ,Spirals, Bulls, and Sacred Landscapes: The Meaningful Appearance of Pictorial Objects within their Spatial and Social Contexts1
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- 1 I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Tina Saavedra who kindly improved my English.
- 1 E. g. Furumark 1941, 150; Morgan 1985, 14–15; Blakolmer 2010, 99.
1One of the most distinctive achievements of the Neopalatial period was the new and more elaborate way of providing the ‘lived-in’ environment of Bronze Age Crete with visual statements. Images and iconic objects now served to visualise and to present selected ideas and themes of relevance within certain spatial and social contexts much more abundantly than before. Pictorial representations were applied on the walls of architectural units designed for social activities, on vessels meant for ritual performances, and on signet rings used as markers of elitist or official status. Images were created on seal impressions in administrative circumstances, or in the form of three-dimensional figurines placed in sacred caves, peak sanctuaries, and other areas of religious or ritual practices. The finite group of pictorial themes and motifs1 reveals the highly selective character of Minoan pictorial language and indicates a specific set of social, religious, ideological or mythological ideas and contents which were supposed to be visualised, presented, and communicated within each particular context.
- 2 On the development of mural decoration see e. g. Blakolmer 1995; 2000; 2001; 2006; Immerwahr 1990; (...)
- 3 Cf. Benjamin 1977, 11–14.
- 4 See also Panagiotopoulos in this volume.
2The most monumental form of images is the mural decoration which, from the beginning of the Neopalatial period onwards, occurs abundantly in the form of wall paintings and stucco reliefs2. The range of pictorial themes and motifs depicted on the walls usually belongs to a spectrum which is also known from other categories of artefacts. In the case of mural images, however, these themes and motifs achieved a fixed spatial locality3, that is, a precise location in which they were seen and experienced during the social practices performed in these decorated areas. By placing images on the walls of certain rooms or architectural units, these spaces were provided with thematic or symbolic connotations considered appropriate or necessary for semantically framing, accentuating or complementing the activities taking place4.
3In the present paper I would like to proceed from the premise that, by creating mural images within certain architectural units, a meaningful environment was created which provided the activities performed within each room with the appropriate visual and semantic framework. This framework not only echoes themes and motifs common to Minoan artistic production, it also links the practices performed to sociocultural ideas and concepts embedded in other kinds of practices which involved objects decorated in a similar fashion. I would like to argue that the display of themes and motifs on the walls as seen and examined in the context of their equivalents in more complex scenes on minor art objects can help to better understand the semantic backgrounds of activities located within the decorated rooms. I will examine how the pictorially represented figures, objects, and symbols served to enhance either directly or indirectly sociocultural practices taking place in an enclosed space, thus creating a meaningful atmosphere and an appropriate environment. Only a better understanding of the spatial allocation of pictorial themes and motifs, as well as of the ideological concepts associated with them, can provide further insights into the Minoan ways of creating meaningful surroundings for social activities performed there.
1. Theoretical and methodological outlines
- 5 The theoretical concept will be presented in detail in the publication of my dissertation on the t (...)
- 6 Morgan 1984; 1985. On pictorial systems see also Scholz 2004.
- 7 Löw 2001, 15: “gedankliche Einheit von wesentlichen Zusammenhängen”. For an English summary of Löw (...)
- 8 Löw 2001, bes. 158–61, 166–72, 271–72.
- 9 On pictorial representations as “artifizielle Präsenzen” see Wiesing 2005.
4The aim of my studies is to achieve a closer understanding of how the Minoans used pictorial elements and motifs to visually convey meaningful aspects to various situations of their social life. In my approach, pictorial elements and motifs are conceived as contributive elements of spaces constituted by people, objects, and actions in specific places. In order to label this spatial arrangement in which both beings and objects of the real world and the pictorial world become interrelated, I have developed the term Bild-Raum to mean a combination of the theoretical concepts associated with Bild and Raum–picture/image and space, a topic considered elsewhere in more detail5. Pictorial elements are basically understood in a semiotic perspective, as has been discussed in several articles by L. Morgan6. Space is understood according to the relational concept established by sociologist M. Löw as a “conceptual unit of constitutive relationships”7, taking into consideration both the beings and objects set into relation to each other and the relationships between them. Space is constituted in positioning and synthesizing activities, reproducing spatial structures in which socially established ideas and structures become implemented and reaffirmed8. Fundamental to Bild-Raum is the idea that in addition to real beings and objects positioned at a place, pictorial elements of beings and objects as well as symbolic objects depicted, e. g., on walls also become part of the spatial arrangement and, thus, are ‘acting’ as artificially present9 constituents of spaces at these very places. They too had been positioned–in the case of wall paintings in a durable form–according to underlying ideas and structures, and were then synthesized as constitutive elements of the spatial arrangements. The challenge in analyzing the Bild-Raum constructs is to reveal the ideas and structures which were implemented by positioning pictorial motifs on the walls and which were recognised by Bronze Age individuals who perceived and synthesized the spatial arrangements, the latter being constituted both by people and objects and by artificially present people, objects, and symbolic values. I shall now briefly discuss how this challenge, in my opinion, may be met.
- 10 See also Morgan 1985, 14–15; Sourvinou-Inwood 1989, 241–45.
- 11 Sourvinou-Inwood 1989, 246–56.
5The analytical basis is the repetitive occurrence of pictorial elements and motifs10: it is a well-known fact that Minoans reproduced pictorial elements (such as ‘biconcave bases’, flowers, or running spirals) and motifs (e. g. bull-leaping, i. e. bull plus human leaper; ‘baetyl-hugging’, i. e. baetyl plus human figure leaning against it) in a variety of artworks, where they either appeared in isolation (e. g. anthropomorphic statuettes, bronze double axes) or were incorporated into more complex scenes or compositions, thus associating other pictorial elements. In the latter case they were incorporated in what has been termed an “iconic space” by Ch. Sourvinou-Inwood11. It may be argued that iconic spaces also consist of the relationships established between their constitutive elements. Therefore, they can offer insight into how a particular pictorial element or motif was linked to other pictorial elements in order to express a broader significance or idea by means of the interrelation or ‘interaction’ of the constituents. However, pictorial elements and motifs do not always jointly form a narrative scene but have often been juxtaposed emblematically on the same surface. In this case, then, it may still be stated that both elements or motifs shared a wider concept of meaning and were juxtaposed in order to visually express different or complementing aspects of this concept. In any case, they had been depicted to represent a common or composite idea, and may therefore be regarded as pictorial expressions of related topics. In establishing the complexities of such interrelationships and associations, iconographic analysis can reveal the structures underlying the rendering and positioning of pictorial elements and motifs and, thus, the regularities in using them in particular constellations to convey the associated meaning. Such an analysis pertains not only to pictorial representations or the contexts and cycles of images in which the particular elements and motifs occur; it can also be extended to decorated artefacts on which the pictorial elements were shown and used within social situations, because their visual presence and meaning was appreciated, necessary and/or usual. In this way, the use (s) of a pictorial element or motif can be established on a more general level, defining both the social and the pictorial contexts in which its occurrence as a visual and meaningful device was preferred. Turning the table, it may further be argued, that because of its meaning–which is, nonetheless, in many cases elusive to us–the pictorial element or motif was chosen only in particular circumstances in order to provide these contexts with the artificial presence of beings, objects or symbolic values, which were appropriate or relevant for these specific situations. Indeed, it has already been shown for some pictorial elements and motifs that they had a quite restricted ‘field of application’, e. g. the bull and bull-leaping indicating a special connection with the palace at Knossos (see below). It is, therefore, reasonable to suggest that in Minoan art the use and combination of pictorial elements and motifs followed established rules, and that the factors determining these rules were the prevalent ideas and structures the visual expression and presentation of which were served by the pictorial elements and motifs selected.
- 12 Evans 1930, 185–90, 308–14; 1935, 339–58; Blakolmer 2010 and in this volume.
6Having defined these ‘fields of application’ it is time to return to the pictorial elements or motifs placed on the walls of the buildings in question. It was often stated by A. Evans, F. Blakolmer, and others that pictorial compositions found on the walls of palaces and other buildings in the so-called palatial architectural style had their counterparts in representations on smaller artefacts12. It is evident that on the walls they too had been chosen and depicted in a particular position in order to contribute their meanings not only to the room, but to the Bild-Raum constituted by people, objects, and actions in the decorated place. Using the background outlined above, it may be argued that the occurrence of pictorial elements and motifs both on the walls and within pictorial contexts traces back to shared concepts of structural relationships. That is to say, when positioning pictorial elements on a small-scale surface in relation to other pictorial elements, the same rules were followed as when positioning them on the surface of a wall and in relation to other pictorial elements or to real beings and objects. One example may suffice to illustrate this postulated relationship (fig. 1): the Corridor of the Painted Pithos in the palace at Knossos provides an architectural space decorated with friezes of running spirals placed at mid-height on the walls (fig. 1a). A pictorial representation on a signet ring shows a human individual carrying a textile and a double axe in front of a spiral frieze placed at an equal height (fig. 1b). This evidence points towards a related concept of activities located at places decorated in this way, a concept underlying both the decoration of the corridor and the representation on the signet ring (fig. 1c). Further attempts can then be made to get an idea of the people and activities–implied in the formulaic representations of human figures in action within the iconic spaces–which were once located in, or conceptually associated with, the decorated areas. In the example used here, one might conclude that on specific occasions, (male) individuals carrying double axes and textiles moved through corridors decorated with spiral friezes–an event which was evidently worth depicting on signet rings. In this sense, the analyses conducted in order to approach Minoan Bild-Raum constructs may include not only the artificially presented constituents in their arrangement on the walls, but also the objects and, hypothetically, the beings set in relation to them. In this way it is hoped to better understand Minoan ideas and structures implemented in the decoration of architecture, thus creating an appropriate and mutually complementary environment for social activities and supporting the reproduction of Minoan realities.
Fig. 1 Simplified illustration of the postulated relationship between (a) a decorated place (3d-model made by the author after Evans 1930, 388, fig. 259; Hood–Taylor 1981, plan [no. 100]), (b) a pictorial representation (drawing by the author after CMS V Suppl. 3, no. 394), and (c) the Bild-Raum as reconstructed from (a) and (b)
- 13 Detailed examinations will be provided in the publication of my doctoral thesis. These will also i (...)
7An analytic approach to Bild-Raum constructs can be undertaken in four steps, which are briefly described here13. First, the location, layout, and possible function of the decorated architectural space must be taken into consideration, that is, the form of the room, its relation to surrounding rooms, and additional architectural elements of functional significance. Second, the formal layout of the respective mural image and its position on the wall have to be considered. They played an essential role in the construction of Bild-Raum constructs, as they affected the way in which the mural images were perceived and influenced the atmosphere. The third issue concerns the iconographical study and interpretation of the depicted motifs. The pictorial themes and motifs were chosen because of their significance and of the relevance this significance had for the rooms to be decorated. To learn more about the purpose of the pictorial motifs in question, their appearance in other compositions and on other pictorially designed objects used in particular contexts will be explored. Even though the sets of associations remain elusive as to inherent meanings, aspects of the iconographic and per formative contexts of the pictorial elements and, thus, of their domains of social relevance can be suggested. By retransferring in a final step the reconstructed meanings onto the architectural units it may be possible to obtain a better picture of the concepts underlying the decoration of the rooms and of the ideas associated with the activities performed therein.
Fig. 2 Ground plan of the palace at Knossos with indication of areas mentioned in the text (made by the author after Hood–Taylor 1981, plan)
8Relying on these considerations, I shall now discuss three kinds of architectural spaces decorated with wall paintings from Neopalatial and Final Palatial Crete: halls and passageways decorated with friezes of running spirals, entrance spaces decorated with a bull motif, and rooms decorated with ‘sacred landscapes’.
2. Case Studies
2.1. Running Spirals
- 14 Platon 1971, 170–73 with fig.
- 15 Evans 1930, 343–45 (Hall of the Double Axes), 381–83 (Queen’s Bathroom).
- 16 Platon 1971, 172–73 with fig.
- 17 Platon 1971, 170–72. Most interestingly, this floor design resembles to a great extent the floor p (...)
- 18 Platon 1971, 155–60.
9The running spiral appears as an element of architectural decoration in certain halls of the Neopalatial palace at Zakros14 and of the Final Palatial palace at Knossos15. In the western wing of the palace at Zakros, relief spirals with central rosettes have been brought to light along the walls of the so-called Banqueting Hall (Room XXIX). Due to imprints of wooden beams on their upper edges they were reconstructed as a frieze running below the ceiling along the four walls of the room16. The interpretation of the room as a Banqueting Hall is based on the in situ finds of wine amphorae and drinking vessels in the easternmost door of the pier-and-door partition in the north wall and along the western wall which presumably had fallen from some kind of shelf or cupboard. The particular design of the room’s floor with two rows of four rectangles framed by stuccoed edges complements the elaborate interior which points to the importance of the southernmost room of the hall system bordering the Central Court along its western edge17. The Banqueting Hall, thus, displays its function within the broader framework of the polythyron hall system, the Hall of the Ceremonies18 to the north, the Central Court to the east, and the so-called Sanctuary Area with a lustral basin to the west.
- 19 The Queen’s Bathroom was not used as a lustral basin in the final state of the palace. Its plan, h (...)
- 20 Evans 1930, 301–4.
- 21 Evans 1930, 387–88, fig. 259. This position on the wall must be due to the function of the room as (...)
- 22 Evans 1902, 45; 1921, 315–59; 1930, 282–390, followed, e. g., by Graham 1959, 47–52.
- 23 Evans 1930, 318–86.
- 24 Evans 1930, 333–38.
- 25 Nordfeldt 1987, 190; Evans 1930, 369 (pyramidal stand), 346 (rhyton), 390 (slab).
- 26 Nordfeldt 1987, esp. 191–93. On the ceremonial character of Residential Quarters see further Pelon (...)
- 27 Nordfeldt 1987, 193; see also Pelon 1983, 253; Marinatos and Hägg 1986, 73.
- 28 Evans 1930, 319 and 339, fig. 225; 425, fig. 216 (Hall of the Double Axes); 369 (Queen’s Megaron). (...)
10At Knossos, two hall complexes, the Hall of the Double Axes and the Queen’s Megaron, including the so-called Bathroom, were decorated with friezes of running spirals with central rosettes, which ran along the walls at the height of the lintels of the pier-and-door partitions19 (figs. 2 and 3). In the eastern Loggia in the Hall of the Colonnades, another frieze of spirals with central rosettes forming the background of four figure-of-eight shields ran assumably along the eastern wall20 (fig. 4). In addition, a spiral frieze ran along the walls at middle height, i. e. about 70 cm above floor level21 in the Corridor of the Painted Pithos connecting the Queen’s Megaron with the Service Quarter to the west (fig. 1). Evans interpreted this system of interconnected halls, rooms, and corridors as the domestic quarter or residential area22. The floors were laid with gypsum slabs, the walls faced with gypsum orthostates23. In the western portico of the Hall of the Double Axes, Evans reconstructed a wooden throne with a baldachin against the northern wall on the basis of impressions on the plaster accumulation24. Among the finds from the residential area are a pyramidal stand for a double axe as well as a broken slab with cupules from the central hall of the Queen’s Megaron, and a large rhyton from the Hall of the Double Axes25. As argued by Nordfeldt, these finds as well as the architecture of the polythyron hall system here and elsewhere are not typical of residential quarters26. Instead, the sacral character of the finds as well as the functional pier-and-door partitions which could affect the appearance of humans and performances within the particular rooms “point to the ceremonial function of these areas”27. A ceremonial or ritual function can thus be deduced from the architectural layout of the decorated rooms and halls which, at least in the Neopalatial period, possibly also had access to a lustral basin. The finds from Knossos, such as the stand of a double axe–a motif repeated in the form of mason’s marks on the walls of both the Hall of the Double Axes and the Queen’s Megaron28–indicate a cultic aspect of the architectural spaces as well. Moreover, judging from the finds at Zakros, the consumption of wine might sometimes have been part of the activities performed in such areas in the Neopalatial period.
Fig. 3 Reconstructed view of the Hall of the Double Axes in the East Wing of the palace at Knossos, seen from a person standing in the southeastern area of the inner polythyron hall and facing the portico and light well to the west (model made by the author after Evans 1930, 345, fig. 229; Hood–Taylor 1981, plan [nos. 90, 91])
Fig. 4 Reconstructed view of the Loggia of the Hall of Colonnades at Knossos, seen from a person standing in the northern part of the hall and facing southeast (model made by the author after Evans 1930, 299–308 with pl. XXIII; Hood–Taylor 1981, plan [nos. 88, 89])
- 29 It is highly unlikely or a unique case that pictorial elements like the figure-of-eight shields ex (...)
- 30 Immerwahr 1990, 142–43.
11Formally speaking, the spiral friezes of the Hall of the Double Axes and of the Queen’s Megaron at Knossos as well as of the Banqueting Hall at Zakros belong to the category of upper zone decoration. In the Corridor of the Painted Pithos and, most probably, also in the Loggia of the Hall of the Colonnades29, the spiral friezes traversed the walls at mid-height and thus accompanied persons moving through the passageways. The spiral provided the halls and passageways with a symbolically charged atmosphere. To this end, I shall now analyse its broader purposes beyond a decorative function30 by examining the way the running spiral appears in combination with other pictorial elements.
- 31 On the development of the running spiral on pottery see Furumark 1941, esp. 153, 158, 179–80, 352– (...)
- 32 Hiller 2005, 259–60, fig. 1a.
12A fascination for spiral motifs existed from the Early Minoan period onward31. As a decorative element on pottery, on the pictorial surfaces of seals or on prestige items such as the MM sceptre-axe from Malia32 the spiral was one of the most popular motifs used for the embellishment of various objects. From MM III onward, however, at least in some categories of artefacts, a more systematic occurrence can be noted. As will be shown below, the running spiral now appeared in a limited number of pictorial contexts and seems to have fulfilled a particular symbolic purpose within these contexts.
- 33 For detailed photographs see Platon 2003.
- 34 Militello 1998, pls. 14A (side A), 14B (side B); Long 1974, 44–53.
13The closest parallels for the use of the spiral as symbolic architectural decoration are pictorial representations in which the spiral appears as the main ornament of door openings of structures often topped with horns of consecration. The most prominent example is the Neopalatial steatite rhyton, found in the palace at Zakros, on which spirals are framing the central door opening of the tripartite shrine or ‘peak sanctuary’33. On the later sarcophagus from Hagia Triada, three structures–a building on side A, an altar and another structure surmounted by a tree and four pairs of horns of consecration on side B–are decorated with running spirals34. In these cases, the ornament appears as an additional visual element highlighting the particular character of the structure or of a certain part of it. Horns of consecration, trees, and further symbolic elements such as double axes, and libation jugs belong to the pictorial contexts, suggesting a primarily cultic-religious framework in which the depictions of the built structures decorated with running spirals played a role.
- 35 CMS XII, no. 212 (Metropolitan Museum). The use of spirals as filling motifs goes back to Protopal (...)
- 36 Evans 1930, 308–14; 1935, 339–42; Blakolmer 2010, esp. 92–96.
14A cultic-religious association is further suggested by a glyptic image in the Metropolitan Museum, where the running spiral appears as a motif complementary to a Minoan genius35 (fig. 5h). Apart from this instance, however, in Neopalatial glyptic images the spiral never appears as a complementary motif, but in the form of friezes accompanying the sceneries of depicted figures, objects, and actions (figs. 5a–g). As Evans and later Blakolmer have argued, these friezes with spirals can be understood as reflecting mural decorations of palatial buildings36. In any case they added a symbolic aspect to the themes depicted, an aspect which can be visually interpreted as being similar to the effect conveyed by spiral friezes on the walls to the architectural spaces surrounded by them. In both cases, the spiral friezes present a symbolic connotation to both the real and the pictorial arrangement they are grouped with. The Bild-Raum constructs in the halls of the palaces thus were provided with a similar symbolic aspect like the scenes on pictorial representations accompanied by spiral friezes. The reason for this lies in the prevailing concepts associating both the activities performed in the halls and the scenes depicted on small-scale media with the meaning of the running spiral. But what were the ideas and concepts behind this symbolic ornament in Minoan times? To address this issue I shall now discuss the pictorial compositions in which spiral friezes appear as well as the objects on which spirals were applied.
Fig. 5 Drawings of glyptic images showing running spirals (after a: CMS II. 3, no. 113; b: CMS II. 8, no. 277; c: CMS II. 8, no. 127; d: CMS V Suppl. 3, no. 394; e: CMS II. 6, no. 256; f: CMS II. 8, no. 457; g: CMS I, no. 305; h: CMS XII, no. 212)
- 37 CMS II. 8, no. 277 (Knossos); Evans 1930, 313, fig. 204. See also Blakolmer 2010, 92.
- 38 CMS II. 3, no. 113 (Kalyvia). See also Evans 1930, 313, where another seal impression showing figu (...)
- 39 CMS II. 8, no. 127 (Knossos).
- 40 CMS V Suppl. 3, no. 394 (Akrotiri).
- 41 See supra n. 34.
- 42 CMS II. 6, no. 256 (Sklavokampos); I, no. 305 (Pylos); perhaps II. 7, no. 34 (Zakros). A collapsin (...)
- 43 Morgan 1995.
15Spiral friezes form the background or ground line of warriors equipped with figure-of-eight shields37 (fig. 5b). These representations are closely related to images showing shields and spirals38 (fig. 5a), or shields, spirals, and ‘sacred knots’ or, more precisely, robes39 (fig. 5c). In another image, a male figure is represented carrying a robe and a double axe in front of a spiral frieze40 (fig. 5d). From this evidence, a set of pictorial elements emerges in which spirals, figure-of-eight shields or warriors carrying them, and robes appear to have had interrelated meanings. The latter image further provides a link to scenes involving the ‘cult of the double axe’, in which the spiral serves as a vehicle of meaning as well, as can best be seen on the later sarcophagus from Hagia Triada41. Finally, spiral friezes accompany bull-leaping scenes42 (figs. 5e–g), an important subject in and of itself (see below), and can be associated with, among other categories, human-animal encounters marking (elite) men’s control over nature43.
- 44 For running spirals on pottery see supra n. 39; for running spirals on stone vessels see Warren 19 (...)
- 45 For examples from Crete see Hiller 2005, 263 with n. 2.
- 46 Hiller 2005, 263. See also Blakolmer this volume, pp. 84–85.
- 47 Hiller 2005, 263, 267.
16When one considers objects used by individuals or groups in the performance of rituals and/or daily practice, spiral decoration is frequently used. Its occurrence on pottery and its use on metal and stone vases44 point to a preference for the running spiral on vessels used in contexts of elevated standard. Apart from these vessels, the range of objects decorated with spirals largely consists, as demonstrated by S. Hiller, of martial objects such as swords, daggers, and spearheads45. To these Hiller adds the association of the spiral with the motifs of the figure-of-eight shield and helmet46. This warrior connection has already been recognised in the glyptic images. The display of spiral decoration thus accompanies objects of utility manufactured for and owned by individuals of high social status, who defined themselves inter alia through the use and exhibition of precious weapons and objects47.
- 48 Marinatos 1989, 28–32; 1993, 219–20; 1994, 91–92.
- 49 In addition, the appearance of the running spiral on the kilts of the male figures in the Processi (...)
- 50 In this regard it is worth mentioning that the Hagia Triada sarcophagus, itself decorated with spi (...)
17A further specialisation in the application of running spirals becomes apparent when one considers glyptic images and military objects: both motifs associated with the spiral in minor art forms and the association with martial objects speak in favour of a pronounced male predilection for spiral motifs. The connection with weaponry and warriors, with bull-leaping performed by male participants48 and, finally, with men fighting lions all point towards the idea that the running spiral had a particular relevance in men’s affairs and practices49. The symbolic spiral motif thus characterises objects of utility used by men in contexts of combat, parade, and ostentation of social prestige, and pictorial environments of activities in which men performed or appeared as main actors50.
18In summary, it can be stated that the decorative use of the running spiral in the Neopalatial and Final Palatial period was concentrated on contexts and objects of an elite character, lending symbolic connotation to men’s actions in ritual, ceremony, and status display contexts, with a pereference for martial affairs, the representation of male dominance over nature, and the ‘cult of the double axe’. It may therefore be assumed that the spiral evoked ideas related to all of these domains, and that the spiral was shown in exactly these contexts because of its affiliation with the themes depicted. From this evidence, it may further be concluded that the decoration of architectural spaces with friezes featuring running spirals was chosen because of the relevance this symbol had for the activities taking place, and for the persons acting in the very rooms, halls, and passageways. It may be proposed that particularly in the glyptic images the depictions supplemented by the spirals stood in relation to, or provided the ideological background for, the persons acting in the rooms and halls decorated with running spirals. In this way, the Bild-Raum constituted in the decorated halls can be traced back to the concepts underlying the pictorial representations on smaller media as well.
- 51 Driessen 1989–90. Further examples are: fragments from House of the High Priest at Knossos, where (...)
19Rooms which actually were decorated with spiral friezes made of stone, stucco, or painting, existed not only in the Knossian palace but also in other buildings which usually show the idiosyncratic ‘palatial architectural style’ discussed by J. Driessen51. It could therefore be supposed that the activities represented were meant to have taken place in these environments or–as it seems more plausible with regard to activities such as bull-leaping–were of relevance for persons connected with these physical, or conceptual, ‘spiralised’ environments, that is for the Minoan ‘elite’. The depiction of building facades decorated with running spirals, like the building in the ‘peak sanctuary’ scene on the Zakros rhyton or the built structures shown on the later sarcophagus from Hagia Triada suggest that the spiral was also used to link structures and their adjacent environments to ideas associated to the spiral. As both examples, by means of their use as objects and their pictorial decoration, refer to cultic-religious spheres, one might presume that in this association the palatial/elite and cultic/religious levels of meaning became intermingled, expressing the close link between Minoan cult and the Neopalatial elite.
- 52 See supra n. 28.
20Returning to the halls and passageways at Neopalatial Zakros and Final Palatial Knossos, the running spirals obviously enhanced the appropriate environment for the performance of ritual or ceremonial activities located in these areas. The depiction of a spiral frieze at mid-height behind the carrier of the double axe and garment could reflect persons walking through corridors like the Knossian Corridor of the Painted Pithos, which was decorated in exactly this way, highlighting again the relationship between the ‘cult of the double axe’ and the running spiral as architectural decoration. The association of spirals and shields finds its counterpart on the eastern wall of the Loggia of the Hall of the Colonnades, likewise a passageway, where the fresco might have provided a thematically appropriate environment for the persons passing by. It completed the Bild-Raum through the presence of both cultic-religious and martial ideas and heralded the character of the area persons passing by were about to enter. In the polythyron halls of the Hall of the Double Axes and the Queen’s Megaron at Knossos the find of a double axe stand as well as the signs on the walls equally suggest that the events taking place might somehow have referred to this particular cult. In addition, it is mainly this latter co-occurrence of spiral friezes and double axe mason’s marks which leads to the assumption that the concept underlying the architectural decoration of the east wing of the Final Palatial palace at Knossos traces back to a Neopalatial idea, an implementation of which can be found in the west wing with Banqueting Hall of the palace at Kato Zakros52. The running spiral may therefore be recognized as a pictorial element which, from the Neopalatial period onward, was closely connected to the ‘cult of the double axe’, and which was, for reasons to be discussed elsewhere, often alluded to in pictorial contexts as well as on objects seen in primarily a masculine sphere of activities.
2.2. Bulls
- 53 Blakolmer 2001, 32; Hallager and Hallager 1995, 547–48; Marinatos 1989, 26; 1996, 150–51; Shaw 199 (...)
- 54 Evans 1935, 893–95, fig. 837; Hood 2005, 66–67, fig. 2,16.
- 55 Evans 1935, 892–93, fig. 872; Hood 2005, 65, pl. 27,4.
- 56 Evans 1930, 294.339, fig. 225; Hood 2005, 73, fig. 2,24.
- 57 See Blakolmer this volume, p. 94, fig. 34. Earlier fragments of a similar representation including (...)
- 58 Shaw 1995, 99 already challenged the reconstruction of the fragments along the rear wall of the ba (...)
21In this second case study a particularly important topic shall be addressed, namely, the representations of bulls and bull-leaping. Four examples of bulls decorating the walls of entrance spaces can be cited from the palace at Knossos53 (fig. 2): 1) a bull depicted on the left, or eastern, wall of the West Porch54, the entrance for those approaching the palace via the raised pathways of the West Court (fig. 6); 2) a bull motif depicted on the left, or southern, wall of the vestibule of the Throne Room55; 3) a bull motif depicted on the left, or northern, wall of the loggia of the Upper Hall of the Double Axes56, this probably also being an entrance space before reaching the central polythyron hall to the East; 4) finally, fragments of a bull motif have been found in the area of the North Entrance Passage, where Evans attributed them to the back wall of the balustrade above the West Bastions57. Leaving aside for the moment the accuracy of this prominent reconstruction58, at least four entrance spaces can be recorded where bulls of an impressive size are oriented towards, or moving towards, persons entering the building or important areas therein. Due to the poor state of preservation, it cannot be definitely established if these were depictions of bull-grappling scenes or of bulls only. Nevertheless, in these cases reference was obviously being made to the bull, and complemented both the Bild-Raum constructs created in the entrance areas as well as the architectural areas to which the very entrances led: namely the palace in the case of the West Porch, the Central Court in the case of the North Entrance Passage, the central polythyron hall in the case of the Upper Hall of the Double Axes, and the Throne Room in the case of the corresponding anteroom. In each case, the spatial layout and decorative scheme of the respective area point to its important function within the palatial complex; the bull on the wall, oriented towards the visitor, served to introduce the latter into the powerful atmosphere he was about to enter. The underlying concept thus can be described at first view as linking not only the entrance areas, but also the parts of the building entered through them to the bull. But why was this subject chosen to be depicted on the walls of these prominent areas of the palace at Knossos?
Fig. 6 3d-visualisation of the West Porch, palace at Knossos: approach from the West Court (model created by the author on the basis of Evans 1928, 672–78, figs. 427–29; Hood–Taylor 1981, plan)
- 59 Marinatos 1989, 23–32, esp. 26; 1993, 73–74, 218–20; 1994, 89–93; 1996, esp. 150–51.
- 60 Marinatos 1996, 150–51; 1989, 26.
- 61 Marinatos 1996, 151; 1993, 219; Zeimbekis 2006, 33. For a definition of emblematic motifs see Imme (...)
- 62 See also Blakolmer 2001, 32; Shaw 1995, 97, 104–5.
- 63 Hallager and Hallager 1995, 549.
- 64 From an iconographic point of view Hallagers (1995, 553) further state that in pictorial represent (...)
- 65 Hallager and Hallager 1995, 549–54 with further references.
- 66 Younger 1995, 523.
22N. Marinatos has dealt several times with the subject of the bull, bull-hunting and bullleaping, and also with bulls depicted on the walls of entrance areas59. Following Marinatos, the bull “represented a formidable force of nature” and “charging or galloping outwards [its depiction was] emitting messages of power to the approaching visitor”60. The bull, therefore, was an emblem of power61. With regard to the occurrence of bulls on Knossian walls only62, B. and E. Hallager similarly argued “that the bull per se or when involved in bull-leaping scenes was the symbol of power for the sovereign at Knossos”63. To support their argument they called attention to evidence earlier stressed by J. Betts, namely that the bull motif was primarily used in administrative relations originating from Knossos64. According to the Hallagers, the bull appears as a large and powerful animal symbolising the power of Knossos and the Knossian ruler65. J. Younger further supports the Knossian connection by stating that “in Crete, outside the Knossos area, there is a paucity of bull-game imagery” and concludes that “bull-games seem undoubtedly […] a Knossian sport”66. The direct link between bull-sport and the palace at Knossos thus constitutes fundamental evidence for the interpretation of the subject of the bull in general, and of depictions of bulls in important entrance areas of this palace in particular.
Fig. 7 Drawings of images depicting bull-leaping scenes on Minoan gold rings (after a: CMS II. 7, no. 37; b: CMS II. 6, no. 161; c: CMS II. 6, no. 256)
- 67 E. g. Marinatos 1993, 218–20; Zeimbekis 2006; Panagiotopoulos 2006 with further references.
- 68 Arnott 1993, 114–16; Säflund 1987, 230–31; Marinatos 1989, 26–27; 1993, 213–14; Morgan 1998, 31; K (...)
- 69 With reference to Oromo culture Arnott (1993, 115) notes that “any boy who fails to complete the f (...)
- 70 Zeimbekis 2006; Sikla 2003, 377–78, 383, pl. 3; Younger 1995, 509–10, 525, nos. 7–9; 539; Marinato (...)
- 71 As recently demonstrated by M. Zeimbekis (2006, 28), reflections of this idea can be found in late (...)
23It has been discussed in a variety of papers that bull-hunting and the related but more acrobatic act of bullleaping constituted long-established rituals performed by Bronze Age Cretans on certain occasions67. In this regard some scholars have stressed the importance of bull-hunting and bull-leaping as being part of rites of passage68. According to this view, the subjugation of the bull may have constituted one of the prerequisites for achieving the status of social adulthood and becoming a full member of society69. Bull-catching, often indicated by the net used to trap the bull, was a collective act and can be traced back to the Early Minoan period on Crete70. Since that time it was a constant element of Minoan imagery during the Protopalatial and Neopalatial period. The defeat of the bull, proving male skill and superiority over this powerful animal, appears to have been an important idea in the construction of social identity and self-conception71.
- 72 On the chronology of representations of bull-games see Younger 1995 with catalogue and earlier bib (...)
- 73 On bull leaping as ritual see Panagiotopoulos 2006.
- 74 E. g. Säflund 1989, 230–32; Marinatos 1989; Arnott 1993. For further references see Panagiotopoulo (...)
- 75 Shaw 1995, 105; Younger 1995, 510–11, 540.
24An increased pictorial display of acrobatic bull-leaping can be observed from the Neopalatial period onwards, particularly on artefacts owned and used by those likely to have been the Knossian elite72 (fig. 7). With regard to the highly formalised representation and idealised depiction of the ritual act73, it may be argued that it was a visual device invented to express the perfection and skill exhibited by the leapers in overpowering the bull. As a tool meant for display and set in relation to its owner, wearer or user, the image may be understood as demonstrating the power of these very persons in exercising control over the imposing animal. In this sense, the emblematic value of this type of representation, identifying its owners, wearers and users as members of this powerful group, would have produced a high degree of corporate identity and a clear marker of their elite status. If, furthermore, bull-leaping constituted one of the ordeals which male youths had to pass in order to achieve full membership in adult society74, the implicit understanding of the motif would also have included the successful performance on the part of the persons displayed. The subjugation of the bull thus seems to have been a deep-rooted subject of sociocultural discourse in Minoan Crete, and it may at some point have been claimed exclusively by the Knossian elite as an expression of superiority75.
25Taking this cultural aspect into consideration, it appears necessary to interpret the decoration of entrance spaces at Knossos with this in mind. As mentioned above, bulls of an impressive size were depicted facing or moving towards persons entering the building itself or important areas therein. The bull (or bull-leaping scene) functioned as a focal point for the approaching viewer and provided a symbolic connotation to both the atmosphere of the entrance space and the rooms beyond, which were ‘labelled’ by the bull image just as the persons wearing or using the latter ‘labelled’ themselves by means of its display.
- 76 In glyptic images, bulls shown in ‘flying gallop’ are mostly accompanied by a leaper, see, for exa (...)
- 77 Zeimbekis 2006, 33.
- 78 In a similar way, the graffito of a bull-leaping scene reported by Ch. Televantou (2000, 834–35, f (...)
26With regard to the latter, the West Porch in the Final Palatial period can be interpreted as a paradigmatic scenario: here, the pattern of paved pathways implies a specific way of approach. After advancing along the pathway which crosses the West Court and the older, now borderlike East-West way, one had to go around the column and proceed towards the decorated eastern wall, before again turning the corner just in front of it and proceeding into the Corridor of the Procession (figs. 2, 6, and 8). This way of approach obliged the visitor first to look at the southern wall of the West Porch, the decoration of which is lost except for the painted dado, and then, after turning around the column, to advance towards the depiction of the bull or, rather, bull-leaping76. In this way, the painting provided an impressive welcome, on the one hand heralding the powerful atmosphere within the building and areas to which the entrance led and, on the other hand, “presencing”77 the occupants and attendants of the Knossian palace by emblematically referring to them78.
Fig. 8 3d-visualisation of the West Porch, palace at Knossos: view from within towards east wall with lost depiction of bull-leaping (model created by the author on the basis of Evans 1928, 672–78, figs. 427–29; Hood–Taylor 1981, plan)
- 79 Cf. German 2005, 34–49, 85–94.
27Considering the Bild-Raum construct created in the entrance areas and the choice of the subject of the bull or bull-leaping, it becomes clear that both in the decoration of the building and in the production of objects used in social practices, the same ideas of representing a social, namely Knossian elite, were implemented to manifest their social position in direct connection to the Knossian centre79. It can, however, be stated that small-scale depictions of bull-leaping did not include direct references to Knossian wall paintings as such, as did, for example, the seal images including spiral friezes referring directly to corridor decoration (see above). The emblematic bull motifs on the walls were self-contained, used in a similar way as small-scale representations of bull-leaping, and intended to complete the Bild-Raum in the entrance areas in the sense of figuratively confronting the visitor with the powerful elite controlling the building he/she was about to enter.
2.3. ‘Sacred Landscapes’
- 80 Cameron 1980, 317; cf. Hitchcock 2007, 91–97.
- 81 Chapin 2004, 59. Cf. Chapin 1997, 22–24. See also Letesson in this volume.
28This final case study concerns the production of ‘sacred landscapes’ as ideal places for the performance of ritual activities. The conceptualisation and visualisation of the natural world played an important role in Minoan belief and ideology80. In their most monumental form landscape scenes appeared in the course of the early Neopalatial period. They usually covered two or more walls of individual rooms in buildings characterised by ‘palace-style’ architectural forms. The distribution of find spots of natural scenes suggests that it was for the most part palaces and the so-called villas in which these artificial landscape environments were used. Access to the decorated rooms was most likely limited to owners of the buildings and to individuals admitted81. The genesis and use of rooms embellished with artificial landscapes appears to have been directly related to the proliferation of the Neopalatial lifestyle. The purpose of this section is to consider the realisation of this kind of Bild-Raum and to reveal the function and conception of the landscape scenes painted on the walls.
- 82 Angelopoulou 2000, 547–49; Chapin 2004, 53; Panagiotopoulos 2008, 136.
- 83 The only well-preserved Cretan example is provided by the Stepped Pavilion of the Knossian Caravan (...)
- 84 For the House of the Frescoes see Chapin and Shaw 2006. A similar position can be assumed for the (...)
- 85 Compare Militello 1998, 100 with Stürmer 2001, 69–70. Apart from Hagia Triada, the painted room P (...)
- 86 Cf. Palyvou 2000, 419–20; 2005, 163; Palyvou in this volume.
- 87 See Morgan 2005, esp. 26–27; Panagiotopoulos in this volume pp. 73–74. Cf. Laffineur 1990, 248–49.
29Natural scenes appeared in various forms and different kinds of rooms suggesting various circumstances of perception and use82. As friezes, they were either placed in the upper horizontal zones of polythyron halls83 or at middle-height on the walls of larger and smaller rooms with multiple access points84, whereas in small chambers they covered the wall surfaces from the floor to at least the height of the lintel85. With the exception of frieze decoration below the ceiling, the paintings were meant to correspond to the human horizon of perception and activity86. By this means, the visible effect of the paintings upon the enclosed spaces was most likely similar, and the natural scenes created an all-encompassing environment for the persons acting in their realm87. Regarding the Bild-Raum construct it can be said that the spatial arrangement relating the depiction on the walls to persons performing in the room resulted in the impression of actually performing the respective practices within a ‘natural’ landscape.
- 88 For an illustration of the painting on the south wall of this room see Panagiotopoulos in this vol (...)
- 89 Militello 1998, 99 (1.60 (E–W) × 2.35m); Warren 2005, 131 (approx. 3.80 (E–W) × 3.20 m).
- 90 Militello 1992, 102 with n. 6 (0.98 m (E–W) × 0.80 m; elevation: 9 cm). For the position of the da (...)
30Concerning the uses of the rooms, some additional observations can be made: chambers like Room 14 in the ‘villa’ at Hagia Triada88 (fig. 9) were presumably designed to accommodate single persons or a few individuals, whereas rooms like the Room of the Frescoes in the North House at the Stratigraphical Museum Site at Knossos could accommodate groups of persons, if not the paved square only was intended for standing or acting89. In both cases, certain architectural features in the floors, such as a dais in the North-West corner of Room 14 and perhaps the gypsum slabs in the Room of the Frescoes, probably served as focal points for specific activities90.
Fig. 9 3d-visualisation of Room 14 in the ‘villa’ at Hagia Triada, from southwest (3d-model by author, after Halbherr et al. 1977, plan; Militello 1998, pls. D, E; Jones 2007, pl. 18.5)
- 91 Cf. Niemeier 1992, 103.
- 92 Angelopoulou 2000, 547–49; Warren 2000, 364–80. Cf. Herva 2006, 221–40.
- 93 Beckmann 2006, 75; Panagiotopoulos 2008, 135–36.
- 94 Chapin 2004, 58. Cf. Marinatos 1993, 193–94; Herva 2006, 224–25.
- 95 Chapin 1997, 19; Chapin 2004, 48; Marinatos 1984, 89; 1993, 195; Beckmann 2006, 66; Herva 2006, 22 (...)
31Mural landscape scenes exist with and without human presence, and it is difficult to decide whether or not they were part of the same concept when considering the activities performed in their vicinity91. In at least two wall paintings, namely those in Room 14 at Hagia Triada and in the Room of the Frescoes in the North House at Knossos, female figures are shown performing activities in an environment characterised by various kinds of flowers. It may be argued that the natural landscape was considered to be the ideal and appropriate place for these activities. The theory of “idealness” becomes even more credible when one considers the pictorial composition. Artificial creation opened up new possibilities in inventing, composing, and arranging natural regions, plant forms, and animals. Tapping this potential resulted in the construction of a holistic synopsis of plant forms in the sense of both depicting a deliberate choice of plant forms which were particularly relevant and had a specific meaning92, and combining plant forms which actually blossom in different natural environments and at various times of the year93. It has been frequently argued, therefore, that the Minoan landscape scenes represented in an abbreviated, but nonetheless hybridised, manner the whole cycle of the year and the totality of nature in its manifold appearance, perhaps with the intention of reinforcing “a sense of divine abundance”94. The sacred or religious character of these landscape scenes has further been pointed out on the basis of the occurrence and role of the plants depicted in other pictorial contexts, particularly those representing Minoan cult practice95. It may therefore be supposed that the depictions of natural landscapes on the walls of certain rooms were associated with the intention of creating places for cultic-ritual performances which were highly idealised to correspond to expectations of a particular environment.
- 96 Doumas 1999, 36–37, figs. 2–5 (Room 1, House of the Ladies). 100–7, figs. 66–76 (Room Delta 2, Bui (...)
- 97 It is, however, not necessarily what N. Marinatos (1984, 94) had in mind when she described landsc (...)
- 98 Driessen 1989–90.
32In this respect, paintings with human presence seem to hardly differ from those without and the impression emerges that in both cases the natural scenes were based on similar concepts. Furthermore, the role of the natural landscape indicating the venue for certain activities in the figural scenes may have been implied in the non-figural scenes as well. Although the fragmentary nature of most of the natural landscapes prevents us from ascertaining whether the frescoes were limited to one wall or extended onto two or more walls, an analogy with Room 14 at Hagia Triada as well as adoptions of these decorative schemes in Akrotiri on Thera96 render the latter case more probable. The enclosing composition of the natural scenes points to the intention of creating and using locations surrounded by, and thus conceptually placed within, a natural environment. It can therefore be argued that the Bild-Raum construct consisting of an artificial landscape and human actor(s) placed within were based on sociocultural ideas stipulating a ‘holistic’ natural environment as the appropriate place for the performance of the respective activities97. The existence of such artificially produced natural places in palaces and ‘villas’ argues for the practice of corresponding activities by persons having access to the decorated rooms. Furthermore, a corresponding proliferation of natural scenes in wall paintings and the ‘palatial architectural style’98suggests a close relationship of these practices with the beliefs and ideology of the MM IIIB to LM I periods.
Fig. 10 Drawings of glyptic images depicting ritual scenes (after a: Sakellarakis–Sapouna-Sakellaraki 1997, 655, fig. 722; b: CMS VI, no. 278; c: CMS II. 6, no. 4; d: CMS V Suppl. 1A, no. 176)
- 99 Militello 1998, 250–53, pl. 2. On the interpretation of the figure on the northern wall as kneelin (...)
- 100 Warren 2005, 132, 144–46.
- 101 Militello 1998, 271–73, pls. 3A, 4; Warren 2005, 132, 144–46. See the focal position of the tree-s (...)
- 102 Horns of consecration are painted in a focal position on the wall of the northern lustral basin in (...)
- 103 In Room 3 on the upper floor of building Xesté 3, the ‘enthroned goddess’ on the wall behind the p (...)
33Considering these practices or at least the motifs representing the ideas connected with them, the few extant natural scenes including human figures may be examined with regard to their reference to shared underlying concepts. On the northern and eastern wall of Room 14 in the ‘villa’ at Hagia Triada, there were most likely depictions of a female figure kneeling beside a boulder and a second female figure dancing (?) next to an architectural structure99 (fig. 9). Far less well preserved are the female figures from the Room of the Frescoes in the North House at the Stratigraphical Museum Site at Knossos. There, female figures seem to have been acting in a natural landscape as well as in the presence of an architectural structure100. Constellations of both female and male figures acting in an environment containing natural features such as boulders as well as architectural structures or tree-shrines are a well-known topos in Minoan glyptic images of the Neopalatial period (figs. 10a–d). It can be no coincidence, that these images, which are often executed in the so-called naturalistic style, were only produced in this period, and thus correspond chronologically to the use of the rooms painted with nature scenes. It can be argued again that the same notion which envisioned humans performing ritual activities with reference to architectural structures formed the concept underlying both the pictorial representations on small-scale media and the constitution of the Bild-Raum construct within certain rooms in palaces and ‘villas’. In Bild-Raum constructs which included the artificial presence of female figures, these seem to have emblematically reflected the ritual activities performed by real persons in the room, with both real and artificial persons being oriented towards the architectural structure and placed within a natural landscape. In this way, presumed shrine-structures like those on the walls of Room 14 or the Room of the Frescoes101, horns of consecration102, enthroned goddesses103 or other objects often focused in glyptic images became part of the Bild-Raum, and were present and available to be used as foci of ritual activity. In Bild-Raum constructs without either human presence or architectural structures, however, it was the intention of creating a place within a natural landscape that served as an appropriate location for the performance of ritual activities without an actual focal point.
- 104 CMS I, no. 127; II. 3, no. 114; II. 6, no. 1; V Suppl. 1B, no. 114; VI, nos. 278, 281; Sakellaraki (...)
- 105 CMS II. 3, no. 114; VI, no. 278; Sakellarakis–Sapouna-Sakellaraki 1997, 655, fig. 722.
- 106 See further Blakolmer 2010 on the function of architectural elements in glyptic images. See also H (...)
34A further point can be raised concerning the glyptic images. Although elements such as trees or flying butterflies indicate a natural location, the artificial ground line which is part of many of these scenes may be understood as pointing to the architectural reality of the environment104 (fig. 10). For example, the natural landscape which is probably depicted on the wall of Room 14 in the ‘villa’ at Hagia Triada showing a person kneeling beside a boulder mirrored the activities performed within the room. This same person kneeling beside a boulder, however, in highly condensed glyptic images was set in a constructed environment105. The same applies to the motifs of ritual activity oriented towards an architectural structure or ‘tree-shrine’–a motif often combined with figures kneeling beside a boulder. As shown on the walls of Room 14 in the ‘villa’ at Hagia Triada and of the Room of the Frescoes in the North House at Knossos, the activities oriented towards an architectural structure were located in a natural landscape, whereas in the glyptic images they often are not. The comparison of these glyptic images with the Bild-Raum constructs in the buildings thus reveals a highly elaborate way of conceiving and representing this form of Neopalatial ritual practice: as predetermined by their conceptual framework, these activities were supposed to be located outdoors, but in reality the natural environment was an integrated and artificially created part of the built environment of the ‘villas’ and palaces, where the venues of the related activities can be assumed106. Furthermore, the evidence of both the wall paintings and the glyptic images suggests that the ritual activities performed in the decorated rooms were the ritual activities evoked by the male and female figures kneeling beside a boulder or ‘shaking’ a tree and the ‘dancing’ female figures in the visual language. In this sense, the persons exhibiting and using the associated motifs on the rings characterised themselves as the ones, who performed and/or supervised the practices conceptually associated to these motifs in the ‘natural’ places located within the palaces and ‘villas’ in the Neopalatial period. With the destruction of the ‘villas’ and most of the palaces at the end of LM IB, landscape scenes and the rooms they decorated disappeared, and with them the practices they were created for.
3. Summary
35In this paper, three case studies have been presented to exemplify the application of a theoretical method based on an analytical framework labelled a Bild-Raum construct. According to the underlying hypothesis, the constitution of Bild-Raum constructs in Minoan buildings was based on sociocultural ideas and structures which also formed the ideological basis of depictions of human figures involved in performances at certain places. The aim of this paper was to analyse the role of wall paintings as integrated parts of Bild-Raum constructs and significant contributors to the understanding of ideas and practices associated with certain architecturally defined places. With reference to halls with friezes of running spirals, entrance areas provided with the motif of the bull, and rooms painted with natural scenes, an iconographic analysis of the motifs depicted on the walls and their appearance on other media was effected, and an attempt was made to evaluate the interrelationships between artificially presented ideas, architecture, and practice.
- 107 With regard to the East Wing Marinatos (1996, 154) already noted “a larger concentration of what I (...)
36It has been argued that the running spiral, despite its supposed ubiquitousness, seems to have exhibited a rather limited range of possibilities in combination with other pictorial elements and motifs when these were integrated in glyptic images or applied on certain objects. With regard to the contexts in which the spiral occurred, an association with the double axe on the one hand, and with primarily male-oriented affairs on the other hand has been emphasized. Pictorial contexts like bull-leaping and martial display suggest that it was the male members of the palatial elite who stood in a specific relationship to architectural units embellished with spiral friezes executed, inter alios, at Neopalatial Zakros and at Final Palatial Knossos107. At these same places, the presence of the double axe symbol points to the cultic aspect of the halls and overlays the Bild-Raum constructs with a sense of cultic-ceremonial atmosphere.
37The image of the bull-leaping in the Southwest Entrance of the palace at Knossos has been interpreted as a visual device providing, with its emblematical and focal motif, a meaningful connotation to the Bild-Raum construct of the entrance area. It referred to a very ancient theme, deeply rooted in Cretan Bronze age ritual, which, at least from Neopalatial period onwards, was exploited by the palace at Knossos as a motif representative of both the palace itself and of the Knossian elite.
38Finally, natural scenes depicted on the walls of rooms in ‘villas’ and palaces to create appropriate places for the performance of ritual activities were related to ritual practices depicted on small-scale media. Again, underlying concepts bringing together human figures performing ritual practices, natural landscapes, and built environments were argued to have been incorporated both in the composition of pictorial representations and in the creation of Bild-Raum constructs in certain rooms and halls within the Neopalatial buildings.
39Unlike the other two kinds of Bild-Raum constructs discussed above, places designed as locations in an idealised natural landscaped disappeared after the end of LM IB. This last point may be taken as important evidence for the significance of Bild-Raum constructs and the concepts associated as reflections of current ideas and related practices which were presented and performed at distinct places. Considering images and spaces in this way, these places are still retraceable within the architectural remains of Bronze Age Crete. The study of Bild-Raum constructs may, therefore, provide important insight into the construction of meaningful environments for sociocultural practices and, thus, a new starting point for the reconstruction of Minoan realities.
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Notes
1 E. g. Furumark 1941, 150; Morgan 1985, 14–15; Blakolmer 2010, 99.
2 On the development of mural decoration see e. g. Blakolmer 1995; 2000; 2001; 2006; Immerwahr 1990; Gates 2004.
3 Cf. Benjamin 1977, 11–14.
4 See also Panagiotopoulos in this volume.
5 The theoretical concept will be presented in detail in the publication of my dissertation on the topic “Minoische Bild-Räume. Untersuchungen zu den Wandbildern des spätminoischen Palastes von Knossos”, written under the supervision of Prof. Diamantis Panagiotopoulos at the University of Heidelberg.
6 Morgan 1984; 1985. On pictorial systems see also Scholz 2004.
7 Löw 2001, 15: “gedankliche Einheit von wesentlichen Zusammenhängen”. For an English summary of Löw’s concept of relational space see Löw 2008.
8 Löw 2001, bes. 158–61, 166–72, 271–72.
9 On pictorial representations as “artifizielle Präsenzen” see Wiesing 2005.
10 See also Morgan 1985, 14–15; Sourvinou-Inwood 1989, 241–45.
11 Sourvinou-Inwood 1989, 246–56.
12 Evans 1930, 185–90, 308–14; 1935, 339–58; Blakolmer 2010 and in this volume.
13 Detailed examinations will be provided in the publication of my doctoral thesis. These will also include a chronology of the architectural phases before and at the proposed time of the wall paintings, and they will take into consideration the chronological changes of the ‘pictorial system’ from which the pictorial elements and compositions on the walls were taken.
14 Platon 1971, 170–73 with fig.
15 Evans 1930, 343–45 (Hall of the Double Axes), 381–83 (Queen’s Bathroom).
16 Platon 1971, 172–73 with fig.
17 Platon 1971, 170–72. Most interestingly, this floor design resembles to a great extent the floor patterning of the Inner Hall of the Hall of the Double Axes at Knossos, where it was achieved through the use of different types of gypsum, see Chlouveraki 2002, 29, 33, fig. 4, 2.
18 Platon 1971, 155–60.
19 The Queen’s Bathroom was not used as a lustral basin in the final state of the palace. Its plan, however, suggests that it might have been one in an earlier phase, cf. Nordfeldt 1987, 190. For further fresco fragments from the Residential Quarter see Evans 1930, 369–74, 377–83.
20 Evans 1930, 301–4.
21 Evans 1930, 387–88, fig. 259. This position on the wall must be due to the function of the room as a passageway, a typological feature further discussed by the author in her dissertation.
22 Evans 1902, 45; 1921, 315–59; 1930, 282–390, followed, e. g., by Graham 1959, 47–52.
23 Evans 1930, 318–86.
24 Evans 1930, 333–38.
25 Nordfeldt 1987, 190; Evans 1930, 369 (pyramidal stand), 346 (rhyton), 390 (slab).
26 Nordfeldt 1987, esp. 191–93. On the ceremonial character of Residential Quarters see further Pelon 1983, 253; Marinatos and Hägg 1986, 57–73.
27 Nordfeldt 1987, 193; see also Pelon 1983, 253; Marinatos and Hägg 1986, 73.
28 Evans 1930, 319 and 339, fig. 225; 425, fig. 216 (Hall of the Double Axes); 369 (Queen’s Megaron). The conjoint appearance of running spirals in painted relief and mason’s marks showing double axes also characterised the West Wing of the palace at Zakros, see Platon 1971, 94–100.
29 It is highly unlikely or a unique case that pictorial elements like the figure-of-eight shields extended from the main area of the wall into the upper zone above the height of the lintel. Therefore, it appears reasonable to argue for a lower position of spirals and shields in the main zone of the wall. As the Hall of the Colonnades was primarily a passageway, the spiral frieze placed at mid-height would provide a close parallel to the spiral frieze on the wall of the Corridor of the Painted Pithos.
30 Immerwahr 1990, 142–43.
31 On the development of the running spiral on pottery see Furumark 1941, esp. 153, 158, 179–80, 352–58; Zois 1968, 130–31, 229–30, 307–13; Branigan 1970, 131–32; Walberg 1987, 48–53, 86–87, 182, figs. 5, i, 1–6; 183 figs. 7, i, 9, 13; Niemeier 1985, 98–105 with fig. 43; Long 1974, 24.
32 Hiller 2005, 259–60, fig. 1a.
33 For detailed photographs see Platon 2003.
34 Militello 1998, pls. 14A (side A), 14B (side B); Long 1974, 44–53.
35 CMS XII, no. 212 (Metropolitan Museum). The use of spirals as filling motifs goes back to Protopalatial times and earlier: A similar composition is provided by a MM II seal impression from Malia, see CMS II. 5, no. 224. It shows a spiral next to a plant, while a similar combination of genius or Taweret and spiral can be found on a scarab from Platanos, see CMS II. 1, no. 283.
36 Evans 1930, 308–14; 1935, 339–42; Blakolmer 2010, esp. 92–96.
37 CMS II. 8, no. 277 (Knossos); Evans 1930, 313, fig. 204. See also Blakolmer 2010, 92.
38 CMS II. 3, no. 113 (Kalyvia). See also Evans 1930, 313, where another seal impression showing figure-eight shields in front of a spiral frieze is reported.
39 CMS II. 8, no. 127 (Knossos).
40 CMS V Suppl. 3, no. 394 (Akrotiri).
41 See supra n. 34.
42 CMS II. 6, no. 256 (Sklavokampos); I, no. 305 (Pylos); perhaps II. 7, no. 34 (Zakros). A collapsing bull above a spiral frieze is shown on CMS II. 8, no. 475 (Knossos).
43 Morgan 1995.
44 For running spirals on pottery see supra n. 39; for running spirals on stone vessels see Warren 1969. Spirals frequently appear on bronze vessels of various forms, those from LM I Crete being characterised by social and ritual aspects, those from LH IIB–IIIA/LM II–IIIA testifying to the upper-class lifestyle of a ‘warrior aristocracy’, see Matthäus 1980, esp. 68–77.
45 For examples from Crete see Hiller 2005, 263 with n. 2.
46 Hiller 2005, 263. See also Blakolmer this volume, pp. 84–85.
47 Hiller 2005, 263, 267.
48 Marinatos 1989, 28–32; 1993, 219–20; 1994, 91–92.
49 In addition, the appearance of the running spiral on the kilts of the male figures in the Procession Fresco from the homonymous corridor at Knossos can be cited, see Evans 1928, suppl. pl. 27. In this sense they have also been adopted as décor element on the kilts of the male figures climbing up the staircase in building Xesté 4 at Akrotiri, see Doumas 1999, 177, fig. 138. From Akrotiri, the depiction of running spirals on some of the ships’ hulls can further be cited, the ships being occupied by men only, see Doumas 1999, 76–77, fig. 37. Cf. Laffineur 1983, 39, 43–44; 1984, 134; 1985, 248–49. Finally, it can be stated that this association with male affairs is equally observable on Mycenaean artefacts and it might be supposed that the Mycenaeans adopted the spiral particularly in this sense; see Hiller 2005, 263–65 for a collection of examples.
50 In this regard it is worth mentioning that the Hagia Triada sarcophagus, itself decorated with spirals all over, can be assigned to a male deceased; cf. Long 1974, 44–46.
51 Driessen 1989–90. Further examples are: fragments from House of the High Priest at Knossos, where a connection with the ‘cult of the double axe’ has been postulated, too, see Evans 1935, 205–15, fig. 170; earlier fragments from the palace at Knossos, namely from the area above the Loom Weight Basement, Evans 1921, 371–73, figs. 269–70; fragments from below the pavement of the Magazine of the Medaillon Pithoi, resembling those found among fresco heaps on the northern border of the Palace, Evans 1921, 374–75, fig. 272; fragments from the North-West Fresco Heap, Evans 1930, 36–42, fig. 20; MM fresco fragments from the palace at Phaistos, Levi 1976, 346, n. 6; and from a MM house on the southern slope, Pernier 1935, 172–73, pl. XL, 1; Immerwahr 1990, 22–23, fig. 6a; fragments of LM I spiral decoration from Chania, Schallin 2000, 201–10; LM I fragments from the Minoan ‘villa’ of Epano Zakros, Platon 1965, 216–24.
52 See supra n. 28.
53 Blakolmer 2001, 32; Hallager and Hallager 1995, 547–48; Marinatos 1989, 26; 1996, 150–51; Shaw 1995, 97–98 with fig. 8; Younger 1995, 521–22 with n. 53. Younger (1995, 534) further takes two fragments of possible female toreadors, included by Gilliéron in the ‘Lily Prince’ relief, into consideration to presumably have formed the decoration of a fifth entrance area south of the Central Court.
54 Evans 1935, 893–95, fig. 837; Hood 2005, 66–67, fig. 2,16.
55 Evans 1935, 892–93, fig. 872; Hood 2005, 65, pl. 27,4.
56 Evans 1930, 294.339, fig. 225; Hood 2005, 73, fig. 2,24.
57 See Blakolmer this volume, p. 94, fig. 34. Earlier fragments of a similar representation including an olive tree have further been reported from this area; see Hood 2005, 56–58 with bibliographical references.
58 Shaw 1995, 99 already challenged the reconstruction of the fragments along the rear wall of the balustrade above bastion A.
59 Marinatos 1989, 23–32, esp. 26; 1993, 73–74, 218–20; 1994, 89–93; 1996, esp. 150–51.
60 Marinatos 1996, 150–51; 1989, 26.
61 Marinatos 1996, 151; 1993, 219; Zeimbekis 2006, 33. For a definition of emblematic motifs see Immerwahr 1990, 136.
62 See also Blakolmer 2001, 32; Shaw 1995, 97, 104–5.
63 Hallager and Hallager 1995, 549.
64 From an iconographic point of view Hallagers (1995, 553) further state that in pictorial representations the bull was never at a disadvantage. Younger (1995, 509) however mentions several instances of harmed bulls; the notion of the invincible bull therefore must be doubted.
65 Hallager and Hallager 1995, 549–54 with further references.
66 Younger 1995, 523.
67 E. g. Marinatos 1993, 218–20; Zeimbekis 2006; Panagiotopoulos 2006 with further references.
68 Arnott 1993, 114–16; Säflund 1987, 230–31; Marinatos 1989, 26–27; 1993, 213–14; Morgan 1998, 31; Koehl 1986, 109, n. 66. Cf. Younger 1995, 521; Panagiotopoulos 2006, 126.
69 With reference to Oromo culture Arnott (1993, 115) notes that “any boy who fails to complete the four runs suffers public humiliation”. Though we have no idea what happened to the losers, depictions of failing acrobats exist on various pictorial media, for example on the Boxer Rhyton from Hagia Triada, on Vapheio Cup B or in several glyptic images, cf. Panagiotopoulos 2006, 131–32. The thematisation of failure or inferiority might be interpreted as a device to simultaneously represent the danger of the athletic challenge and the ability and skill of those successfully overcoming it. Cf. Säflund 1987, 230–32, who stresses the Boxer Vase’s depiction of the successive contests which the Minoan youth had endured.
70 Zeimbekis 2006; Sikla 2003, 377–78, 383, pl. 3; Younger 1995, 509–10, 525, nos. 7–9; 539; Marinatos 1989, 25–26. On the wideranging cultural significance of bull-leaping in the Eastern Mediterranean see further Morenz 2000, 195–204.
71 As recently demonstrated by M. Zeimbekis (2006, 28), reflections of this idea can be found in later Greek mythic traditions and textual accounts where the Cretan bull is consistently linked to social practices of male initiation. See also Marinatos 1994, 89, who argues that the Keftiu in Egyptian tomb painting were likewise characterised through their association with bulls. Cf. Säflund 1987, 231.
72 On the chronology of representations of bull-games see Younger 1995 with catalogue and earlier bibliography.
73 On bull leaping as ritual see Panagiotopoulos 2006.
74 E. g. Säflund 1989, 230–32; Marinatos 1989; Arnott 1993. For further references see Panagiotopoulos 2006, 126, n. 5.
75 Shaw 1995, 105; Younger 1995, 510–11, 540.
76 In glyptic images, bulls shown in ‘flying gallop’ are mostly accompanied by a leaper, see, for example, CMS II. 6, nos. 43, 44, 161, 162, 255–58; II. 7, nos. 36–39; II. 8, nos. 222, 223; V Suppl. 1A, no. 171; V Suppl. 1B, no. 135; V Suppl. 3, nos. 66, 103, 392, 404; VI, nos. 336, 342. Regarding the preserved foreleg of a bull on the eastern wall of the West Porch, it is highly probable that Evans (1928, 675–77 with figs. 428, 429) was right in adding a leaper.
77 Zeimbekis 2006, 33.
78 In a similar way, the graffito of a bull-leaping scene reported by Ch. Televantou (2000, 834–35, figs. 1, 2; see also Doumas 1999, 179, fig. 140) to come from the entrance and staircase room 5 in building Xesté 4, Akrotiri, Thera, may have been applied due to the emblematic value of the image, revealing the users of the building as being close to the Knossian elite.
79 Cf. German 2005, 34–49, 85–94.
80 Cameron 1980, 317; cf. Hitchcock 2007, 91–97.
81 Chapin 2004, 59. Cf. Chapin 1997, 22–24. See also Letesson in this volume.
82 Angelopoulou 2000, 547–49; Chapin 2004, 53; Panagiotopoulos 2008, 136.
83 The only well-preserved Cretan example is provided by the Stepped Pavilion of the Knossian Caravanserai, where a polythyron is simulated by means of painted pier-and-door partitions, see Palyvou 2000, 425–27, fig. 12; Shaw 2005, 91–111.
84 For the House of the Frescoes see Chapin and Shaw 2006. A similar position can be assumed for the floral fresco from Room P in the Unexplored Mansion and for the Blue Monkey Fresco from the palace at Knossos, cf. Cameron 1984, 128, 132. The Blue Monkey Fresco might have decorated more private rooms in the earliest period of the New Palace, thus being contemporary with, or slightly earlier than, the natural scenes decorating the rooms in the ‘villas’, see Macdonald 2002, esp. 52; for an early dating of the fresco see also Hood 2005, 62. Natural scenes also decorated the walls of the northern hall complexes in the Neopalatial palace at Phaistos and of further rooms in the ‘villa’ at Hagia Triada, see Militello 1998, 172–80 with bibliography. It goes beyond the scope of this paper to cite each find-spot of fragments referring to natural scenes; for an overview see Driessen 1989–90.
85 Compare Militello 1998, 100 with Stürmer 2001, 69–70. Apart from Hagia Triada, the painted room P in the Unexplored Mansion seems to have been of similarly small dimensions, see Chapin 1997, 12–13.
86 Cf. Palyvou 2000, 419–20; 2005, 163; Palyvou in this volume.
87 See Morgan 2005, esp. 26–27; Panagiotopoulos in this volume pp. 73–74. Cf. Laffineur 1990, 248–49.
88 For an illustration of the painting on the south wall of this room see Panagiotopoulos in this volume p. 69, fig. 6.
89 Militello 1998, 99 (1.60 (E–W) × 2.35m); Warren 2005, 131 (approx. 3.80 (E–W) × 3.20 m).
90 Militello 1992, 102 with n. 6 (0.98 m (E–W) × 0.80 m; elevation: 9 cm). For the position of the dais “all’estremità NE” see Militello 1998, 358, n. 11. For the finds see Halbherr et al. 1977, 93–95, among them the upper part of a bronze figurine with hand-to-front gesture was recorded. Rehak (1997, 165), however, recommends caution since the objects could have fallen from the upper storey. On the gypsum slabs in the Room of the Frescoes see Warren 2005, 131–32, with fig. 8,1. Note that, as shown in figs. 8,2 and 8,3, the find spot (area D) of the representation of “structure or columns” corresponds approximately to the position of the gypsum slabs. Could it have been the intention to create a ‘parallel’ illustration of the activities performed in the room and in front of a specific focal point?
91 Cf. Niemeier 1992, 103.
92 Angelopoulou 2000, 547–49; Warren 2000, 364–80. Cf. Herva 2006, 221–40.
93 Beckmann 2006, 75; Panagiotopoulos 2008, 135–36.
94 Chapin 2004, 58. Cf. Marinatos 1993, 193–94; Herva 2006, 224–25.
95 Chapin 1997, 19; Chapin 2004, 48; Marinatos 1984, 89; 1993, 195; Beckmann 2006, 66; Herva 2006, 225–26.
96 Doumas 1999, 36–37, figs. 2–5 (Room 1, House of the Ladies). 100–7, figs. 66–76 (Room Delta 2, Building Complex Delta). Cf. Davis 1990.
97 It is, however, not necessarily what N. Marinatos (1984, 94) had in mind when she described landscape scenes as “a backdrop for ritual action serving a function similar to that of a scenic backdrop in a theatre in front of which the plot develops”. Regarding the size of the rooms, it seems to have been mainly by the actors and to a lesser extent by the spectators that the background was perceived as pinpointing the right place. See also Panagiotopoulos 2008, 138.
98 Driessen 1989–90.
99 Militello 1998, 250–53, pl. 2. On the interpretation of the figure on the northern wall as kneeling at a baitylos see also Jones 2007, 151–58. On the interpretation of the figure as a dancer see, e. g., Rehak 1997, 168.
100 Warren 2005, 132, 144–46.
101 Militello 1998, 271–73, pls. 3A, 4; Warren 2005, 132, 144–46. See the focal position of the tree-shrine in the lustral basin of building Xesté 3, Vlachopoulos 2008, 456, fig. 41.10; 465, fig. 41.51.
102 Horns of consecration are painted in a focal position on the wall of the northern lustral basin in the Zakros palace; see Platonos 1990.
103 In Room 3 on the upper floor of building Xesté 3, the ‘enthroned goddess’ on the wall behind the pier-and-door partition may also have served as the focus of certain activities; see Vlachopoulos 2008, 458, fig. 41.21; 465, fig. 41.51. It is tempting to see this latter Bild-Raum construct reflected in pictorial representations showing human figures approaching enthroned females and thus referring to related concepts; see, e. g., CMS I, no. 101; II. 7, no. 8; II. 8, no. 268; V, no. 199; XI, no. 30. The placing of the throne in the Knossian Throne Room as seen from the anteroom may be regarded another example of this spatial arrangement and its pictorial visualisation, which lasted, due to its powerful associations, until the end of the palace, see Günkel-Maschek (forthcoming). On the symbolism of the wall-decoration flanking the throne see Niemeier 1986, 84–88.
104 CMS I, no. 127; II. 3, no. 114; II. 6, no. 1; V Suppl. 1B, no. 114; VI, nos. 278, 281; Sakellarakis–Sapouna-Sakellaraki 1997, 655, fig. 722. Cf. for a related argumentation Blakolmer 2010, 95–96 and in this volume pp. 86–87.
105 CMS II. 3, no. 114; VI, no. 278; Sakellarakis–Sapouna-Sakellaraki 1997, 655, fig. 722.
106 See further Blakolmer 2010 on the function of architectural elements in glyptic images. See also Hitchcock 2007 and M. A. S. Cameron (cited in Niemeier 1986, 90) for the transference of outdoor cults into the built environment.
107 With regard to the East Wing Marinatos (1996, 154) already noted “a larger concentration of what I would call male oriented iconography”.
Notes de fin
1 I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Tina Saavedra who kindly improved my English.
Table des illustrations
Légende | Fig. 1 Simplified illustration of the postulated relationship between (a) a decorated place (3d-model made by the author after Evans 1930, 388, fig. 259; Hood–Taylor 1981, plan [no. 100]), (b) a pictorial representation (drawing by the author after CMS V Suppl. 3, no. 394), and (c) the Bild-Raum as reconstructed from (a) and (b) |
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URL | http://books.openedition.org/pucl/docannexe/image/2841/img-1.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 93k |
Légende | Fig. 2 Ground plan of the palace at Knossos with indication of areas mentioned in the text (made by the author after Hood–Taylor 1981, plan) |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/pucl/docannexe/image/2841/img-2.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 285k |
Légende | Fig. 3 Reconstructed view of the Hall of the Double Axes in the East Wing of the palace at Knossos, seen from a person standing in the southeastern area of the inner polythyron hall and facing the portico and light well to the west (model made by the author after Evans 1930, 345, fig. 229; Hood–Taylor 1981, plan [nos. 90, 91]) |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/pucl/docannexe/image/2841/img-3.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 296k |
Légende | Fig. 4 Reconstructed view of the Loggia of the Hall of Colonnades at Knossos, seen from a person standing in the northern part of the hall and facing southeast (model made by the author after Evans 1930, 299–308 with pl. XXIII; Hood–Taylor 1981, plan [nos. 88, 89]) |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/pucl/docannexe/image/2841/img-4.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 289k |
Légende | Fig. 5 Drawings of glyptic images showing running spirals (after a: CMS II. 3, no. 113; b: CMS II. 8, no. 277; c: CMS II. 8, no. 127; d: CMS V Suppl. 3, no. 394; e: CMS II. 6, no. 256; f: CMS II. 8, no. 457; g: CMS I, no. 305; h: CMS XII, no. 212) |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/pucl/docannexe/image/2841/img-5.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 118k |
Légende | Fig. 6 3d-visualisation of the West Porch, palace at Knossos: approach from the West Court (model created by the author on the basis of Evans 1928, 672–78, figs. 427–29; Hood–Taylor 1981, plan) |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/pucl/docannexe/image/2841/img-6.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 284k |
Légende | Fig. 7 Drawings of images depicting bull-leaping scenes on Minoan gold rings (after a: CMS II. 7, no. 37; b: CMS II. 6, no. 161; c: CMS II. 6, no. 256) |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/pucl/docannexe/image/2841/img-7.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 30k |
Légende | Fig. 8 3d-visualisation of the West Porch, palace at Knossos: view from within towards east wall with lost depiction of bull-leaping (model created by the author on the basis of Evans 1928, 672–78, figs. 427–29; Hood–Taylor 1981, plan) |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/pucl/docannexe/image/2841/img-8.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 192k |
Légende | Fig. 9 3d-visualisation of Room 14 in the ‘villa’ at Hagia Triada, from southwest (3d-model by author, after Halbherr et al. 1977, plan; Militello 1998, pls. D, E; Jones 2007, pl. 18.5) |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/pucl/docannexe/image/2841/img-9.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 306k |
Légende | Fig. 10 Drawings of glyptic images depicting ritual scenes (after a: Sakellarakis–Sapouna-Sakellaraki 1997, 655, fig. 722; b: CMS VI, no. 278; c: CMS II. 6, no. 4; d: CMS V Suppl. 1A, no. 176) |
URL | http://books.openedition.org/pucl/docannexe/image/2841/img-10.jpg |
Fichier | image/jpeg, 66k |
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