Homeric World Decorative Arts Flashcards
Frescoes
Influenced by earlier frescoes from Minoan Age
Used vivid colours and great detail
Adorned palaces, but some are found at houes, workspaces, and public buildings.
Grander buildings had frescoes of important individuals or detailed scens
How were frescoes made
thick layer of lime plaster put o a stone wall to be decorated.
A finer layer of plaster added, before it dried, colours painted on using natural and manufacutred products
String would have been set to set out lines during the composition, and faint lines from this string can be seen on the plaster
Black came from carbon
Blue was from copper compound, and was manufactured making it expensive
Red came from a mineral called haematite
White from lime
Yellow from ochre
Green from blue and yellow mixed, or grinding a mineral called malachite
White by cutting through to the backing plaster, or adding plaster
Colours
Men have red skin
Women have white skin
Lions have yellow skin
Monkeys have blue skin
Akrotiri
Minoan, destroyed by fire at the start of the Mycenaean period
Debatable how close it is to Mycenaean, but probably had an influence
Scenes of nature feature heavily, such as a spring fresco, featuring three walls of a house, One part of this shows lilies or papyrus growing among clourful rocks with swallows overhead
Another house has a fresco of blue monkeys climbing rocks to escape dogs, and two boxers. Women feature heavily in the fescoes, with some picking saffron
Most famous, ship fresco.
Eight large ships and three boats rowing through a town. The ships are decorated with flowers, butterflies, swallows, and liliies
There are swimming dolphins
Great detail, even clothes of people highlighted.
Suggested that the high-status clothes and abundance of flowers show a festival. Others note helmets hang under the canopies of hte ships, suggesting conflict
Common images in frescoes
Women, octopi, cuttlefish, hroses, bulls, lions, dogs, deer, boar, and mythic creatures like sphinxes and griffins.
In some men are leaping over bulls, such as the palace at Knossos
Processions, like at Thebes are shown
War is shown, with figure of eight shields being common.
Repeated patterns like wavy lines or spirals are common
Limitations of frescoes
did not use perspective, no attempt at 3D
Faces are shown with eyes lookng forward, even when the head is turned to the side.
However, the skill required was increadible for the time
Describe the features
Contrasting colours pick out details
Significant level of detail, shown by the bracelets of the woman and varied pattern of the brown fabrics
The blue bracelets are similar, creating consistency
Her face is delicate and she gently grasps the saffron
A slight smile creates a sense of energy in the picture
Jewellery
Burial sites of Mycenae and Tiryns reveal a significant amount of jewllery
Worn by men and women
Rings (often gold) and beads (gold, gemstones, amber, ivory, or glass) have been found
Gold rings had engravings, and are called signet rings, often showing religious scenes, but the meaning is unclear
Many undecorated rings, gold necklaces, and diadems have been found. The beads on necklaces were worked into imaginative shapes and moulds have been found at Mycenae. necklaces of gemstones an rock crystal have been found, some of these beads would have been imported.
Describe the features
From Tiryns
A goddess, seated on a folding chair, holds cup, with a hawk/eagle behind her, perhaps signifying power
Approached by strange lion headed spirits carrying long necked jugs perhaps with drink offering
Ears of what and the sun and moon are visible, possibly signifying a ritual connnected to crops
A great amount of detail, made using repoussé technique. Using a hammer and nail, a pattern could be worked on to metal to give depth, usually done so the scene faced out
Pyxis
Small storage box
Found at Mycenae, rare example of wooden object from this period
Inner part was a hexagonal wooden box, covered in twelve small plates of gold with filigree borders (made by twisting metal wire)
The plates show lions chasing deer and antelope among palm trees
Spiral patterns and heads of cattle with buling eyes can be seen
The item would have stored jewels or cosmetics
Techniques used in jewellery
- Inlay: one metal is put on top of another on an object
- cloisonné: the soldering of a wire onto metal and then putting glass or gemstones on the soldered pattern
- granulation: dropping molten metal onto an object to give a spotted effect
- repoussé: using a hammer and nail, a design is hammered onto an object usually from the inside to make it bulge out
Creating pottery
Skilled in making pottery
Early on they imitated the Minoans, who were execellent potters
The basic shape was made on a potters wheel, then patterns were applied.
An rion-rich slip (water and clay) added to give decoration. This came in varios shades from red to black depending on the kiln’s temperature
Pithoi
Over 1.5m high and could weigh 2 tonnes when filled – usually for food or liquid, and could be partially buried to keep cool
Likely they were a fire hazard as they were often filled with oil, and many cities suffered from huge fires
Amphorae
Much smaller than pithoi, and had a narrower neck
Often elaborately painted with geometric or nature related (usually plants or marine animals) images
Later Mycenaean amphorae had the neck and lower part painted in a solid block or in lines to focus the eye on the main part
Stirrup jar
Most common form of storage vessel
Named after its handle
Used for oil or wine
Vapheio cups
Two elaborately decorated cups were found at Vapheio, near Sparta – one showing the capture of bulls with a man easily tying a rope around the bull’s leg
The other has one bull in a net while a hunter attacks one whom flees.
Possible that they were Minoan, as their quality surpasses early Myckenaean cups
Unlike many caps they only had one handle, no stem, and are not curved
The Cup of Nestor
Iliad
Four handles
Pair of doves around each handle
So heavy it could barely be lifted when full
Schliemann excavated the gold cup at Mycenae he named it hte cup of Nestor, although it differs greatly
It has two handles with a folcon on each, and is easy to lift
Rhyton
Rhyton in the form of a lion’s head
Fitting image for the rulers of Mycenae
Made from sheets of gold, hammered into shape
Liquid poured through the top of the head, flowing out through the muzzle
Silve Rhyton
Shaped like a bull
gold horns, multi-layered gold rosette on its head, gold plating on the nose
One hole was between the hrons and one at the mouth.
Found by Hienrich Schliemann, though he thought the top head was for flowers.
Identify
- Psi figure
- Possibly goddess – female with prominent breasts
- Imported from Crete, probably in the Minoan Age
- Suggested figures were used in religious worship, or else were votive offerings to the gods in the hope of the fulfilment of a prayer
- Usually small enough to be held in the hand
Identify
- Phi figure
- Possibly goddess – female with prominent breasts
- Imported from Crete, probably in the Minoan Age
- Suggested figures were used in religious worship, or else were votive offerings to the gods in the hope of the fulfilment of a prayer
- Usually small enough to be held in the hand
Identify
- Tau figure
- Possibly goddess
- Imported from Crete, probably in the Minoan Age
- Suggested figures were used in religious worship, or else were votive offerings to the gods in the hope of the fulfilment of a prayer
- Usually small enough to be held in the hand
Ivory carvings
Used ivory tusks for war helmets
Also used ivory from elephants, hippos, and boars ,to make works of art.
One of the most famous is of a child (possibly a young god) and two bare-breasted women (possibly goddesses)
Other figures include a reclining lion and the head of a youth, both from the House of hte Resco in Mycenae
Another inrticate carving is a comb from Attica
Above the teeth are two bands containing sphinxes and a reosette
Ivory was used to make a pyxis from Thebes (depicting sphinxes) and a pair of chair legs from Thebes
Other items include ivory inlays of sphinxes, dolphins, coumns, shells, and shields
