2.3

• How are fresco made?

  • A thick layer of lime plaster put on a stone wall to de decorated
  • A finer layer of plaster added
  • Before this dries, colours will be painted on using natural and manufactured products. + String to set ot lines (faint lines can still be seen)
• Colours in fresco

  • Black = carbon
  • Blue = copper compound (more expensive)
  • Red = haematite
  • white = lime (cutting through the back of the plaster/ add more lime plaster)
  • yellow = ochre
  • green = mix blue and yellow / malachite
  • lighter colour add after dry = faded away over time
• Colours for object

  • Man = red skin colour = tanned skin
  • woman = white = spend more indoor
  • Yellow = lion
  • blue = monkeys
• Akrotiri


  Minoan site destroyed by fire around the start of Mycenaean period
• What is this?

  fresco of a fisherman

  A) red skin

  B) blue shaved hair

  C) youth

  
• What is this?

  Fresco of a ship procession and a coastal town from Akrotiri

  • helmet under the canopy of ships = conflict
  • Decorated with butterflies and swallows and lillies
  • dolphines swiming
  • Large town with people in high-status clothes + abundance of flowers = festival
• Common image in fresco

  • octopi
  • cuttlefish
  • horses
  • bulls
  • lions etc.
  • mythical creatures ( griffins, sphinxes)
• Limitations of fresco

  • object appears disproportionately
  • no attempt on 3D effect
  • Faces are shown with eye looking foward even with head looking aside
• What is this?

  A Woman gathering saffron from Akrotiri

  • contrasting colour to pick out details on the woman
  • blue bracelet similar to one another = consistency
  • varied patterning of brown fabrics
  • slight simile + delicate facial features + gently grasps saffron

  
• What is this?

  Fresco of ship procession from Akrotiri

  
• Example of nature fresco

  • fresco of blue monkey climbing rock to escape chasing dogs
  • lilies growing among colourful rocks with swallows flying overhead
• Example of procession frescos

  • woman carrying a vase, a pyxis and flower
  • Image from war with a tower of eight shield
  • repeated patterns of: wavy lines, spirals, swirls
• Jewellery

  may have been worn by man and woman

  • Rings = gold
  • beads moulded from gold or carved from gemstone, amber, ivory or a form of glass
  • signet ring = religious scene
  • example:priest
• What is this?

  THe signet ring about the priest

  • goddess = power
  • ritual connect with crops

  A) folding chair

  B) eagle

  C) cup

  D) Lion-head spririts

  E) long-necked jar

  F) whear

  G) sun and moon

  
• What technique does the signet ring use?

  repousse
• What is repousse

  • a design is hammered onto an object from the inside
  • using a hammer and a nail = elaborate pattern = sense of depth
• What is special about the beads found?

  • woked in a shape of flowers and eagles
  • mould found in mycenae for craftman to do it
  • necklace of gemstone and rock crystal have also been found, some are imported such as ivory
• What is this?

  Gold pyxis

  
• Gold pyxis (material)

  • small storage box to contain cosmetic or jewellery
  • inner part is a hexagonal wooden box
  • covered with 112 small plates of gold with filigree borders
• Gold pyxis (scene show)

  • Lion chasing deer and antelope among palm trees
  • spiral patterns
  • head of cattles compare with the bulging eye (standing out)
• Gold pyxis (technique used)


  • repousse
  • inlay: one metal is heated and laid over another in an object ( Lion Hunt Dagger)
  • cloisonne: the soldering of a wire onto metal and then putting glass or gemstones in the soldered pattern
• Granulation

  Tiny beads of gold dropped onto an object to give a spotted efffect (rhyton)
• How was pottery made?

  • basic shape make on a potter wheel, with patterns applied
  • An iron-rich slip (mixture of water and clay used to give decoration to pottery) is then added.
  • become various shades from red to black depeding on the emperature of kiln
• What are the different type of storage jar? (pithoi)

  • weight over 2 tonnes when filled
  • usually contain liquid or food
  • partially buried in the ground to keeo the content fresh and cool
  • often contained oil = fire hazard
• What are the different type of storage jar? (amphorae)

  • smaller with a narrower neck
  • more elaborately painted with geometric patterns or image of nature
• What are the common decoration used?

  • marine and plant life
  • geometric pattern
  • lower part of amphorae were painted with lines or solid block = focus eye on the main part
• What are the different type of storage jar? (stirrup jar)

  • handle = resemble stirrup from horse
  • store il or wine
• What pattern are shown in pottery in early Mycenaean age?

  • double axes, spiral, leaves common
  • later on: chariot racing, bulls, human figures (warrior vase)
  • Later vessels: flowers, zig-zag line, vertical lines, spiralled whorl shells
• Where is the Gold Pyxis found?

  • shaft Grave V, Grave Circle A, Mycenae
  • Made of wood and gold
  • Using Repousse and filigree
• What are the different type of storage jar? (kraters)

  • mixing water and wine
  • miniature vases for perfumes
  • three-handled jars
• What are the different type of storage jar? (kylix)

  • had long stem and 2 small handles
• Gold cups

  • decorate with beautiful swirls in Grave Circle A at Mycenaean
  • In Illiad = four handled and a pair of golfen doves around each handle. + very heavy
  • One of the cup is the capture of bull with a man tying a rope arounf the bull's leg without any sign of stuggle
  • might be originate in Crete and made in Minoan times = better quality than ususal ( one handle, no stem, not curved
• rhyton

  A vessel wither in a shape of cone or animal head for the pouring of liquid and made from pottery or metal
• How do rhyton works?

  • fall through a hole at the bottom or the mouth of animal heads
• What type of jar is this?

  Stirrup jar

  
• What type of jar is this?

  Amphorae

  
• What is this?

  GOld rhyton
• Gold rhyton

  • Grave IV, Grave Circle A, Mycenae
  • sheets of GOld
  • hammering, granulation, repousse
• THe purpose and use of Gold rhyton

  • lion head, fitting image of a ruler
  • liquid pour from the top of head with it flowing out through the muzzle
  • made from sheet of gold poured from top of head
• What is this?

  Silver rhyton