inspiration
As a marine culture, Minoan people have connections with foreign people all over the Aegean Sea. The influence of the Near East, Babylon and Egypt was proved in their early art and trade, especially the exchange of pottery and oil. And wine in exchange for precious goods and materials, such as copper in Cyprus and ivory in Egypt. Therefore, Minoan artists are constantly exposed to new ideas and materials, and they can use them in their own unique art.
As a marine culture, Minoan people are connected with foreign people in the whole Aegean Sea.
Minoan art is not only functional and decorative, but also may have political purposes, especially the rulers' religious walls, which enhance the palace paintings depicted by their roles as community leaders. It is also important to remember that works of art are mainly reserved for the ruling elite, and they are a minority compared with other people who are mainly farmers. Therefore, for those lucky enough to have them, expensive artworks become a means to emphasize the differences in social and political status.
Minoan pottery
Minoan pottery has gone through different stages of development. First of all, it is the former palace style, known as Vasiliki, and its surface is decorated with mottled red and black, as well as Barbotine pottery with decorative vegetation on its surface. Then there are colorful Kamares utensils. It probably originated from the dating between Festus and the old palace (2000 BC-65438 BC+0700 BC), and its introduction was contemporary with the arrival of the pottery wheel in Crete. The unique element of Kamares pottery is the vivid red and white design on the black background. Geometric forms are common, but there are also impressionist fish and corals and abstract figures. Sometimes, shells and flowers are also added to the container in the form of relief. Common forms are beakers, cups, pyxides (small boxes), holy grail and pithoi (very large handmade vases, sometimes exceeding 1.7 meters, used to store food).
The New Palace period (BC 1600 to BC 1450) witnessed the evolution of technology, followed by the development of form and design, including the production of songkhla sarcophagus. Longer vases with tapered bottoms have become common, and new designs have emerged, such as a stirrup-shaped jar with a real opening and a second fake vase with two handles. Spirals and lines are now confined to the area around the handle and neck. Instead, plants and marine life occupy the central position. Floral styles most often depict slender branches with leaves and papyrus flowers. Perhaps the most famous example of this style is Festus's kettle, which is completely covered with grass ornaments.
At the same time, the contemporary marine style is characterized by detailed natural descriptions of octopus, Argo nautilus, starfish, Poseidon shells, sponges, corals, rocks and seaweed. In addition, Minoan people make full use of the fluidity of these marine creatures to fill and surround the curved surface of their pottery. Cow's head, double axes and sacroiliac joints also often appear on pottery.
The new court style originated from 1450 BC. It may be influenced by the increasing contact between Greek mainland and Mycenae culture. Typical examples are three-handle ear bottles, squat snow bottles, goblets and ritual vessels with eight handles. Compared with the previous style, the decoration of the ship is more schematic and stylized, and an unprecedented new design is adopted, including birds, soldiers and shields.
Minos stone products
In addition to the Terracotta Warriors, Minoan people also made utensils with various stones and carved materials with chisels, hammers, saws, drills and blades. The container is finished by grinding with imported abrasives such as sand or emery in Kiklazez. Most of the design inspiration comes from the modeling of contemporary pottery, and even the pottery decoration such as ocean style is transferred to stone tools.
The popular stone bowl has a "Bird's Nest" with a thin bottom, which may be used to store heavy oil and ointment. As artists become more and more confident in other more ambitious and ambitious things, people make utensils such as ritual vases or rhythms, which can take many forms and are usually covered with gold foil. Perhaps the most famous example is the snake-shaped bull head of Knossos Palace (about 1600- 1500 BC), which is now located in heraklion Archaeological Museum. This animal has gold-plated wooden horns, crystal eyes and white shell tones, which perfectly presents and captures the lifelike posture, which is incomparable to ancient Greek art sculptures after 1000 years.
The ivory jumping statue is probably the earliest known sculpture, trying to capture the free movement in space.
Minos sculpture
Figure sculpture is a rare discovery in Crete archaeology, but there are enough small statues that survive, which shows that Minoan artists can capture the movement and elegance of three-dimensional space like other art forms. The early clay sculptures were not very successful, but they showed the costumes at that time. Men (red) wear corsets, and women (white) wear elegant long skirts and cardigans. There are also bronze statues, usually worshippers, but there are also animals, especially cows.
Later works are more complicated, the most important of which is an ivory statue of a man jumping in the air (a single figure in a bull). Hair will be added with bronze thread and gold foil clothes. It can be traced back to 1600- 1500 BC, which may be the earliest known attempt to capture the free movement of space through sculpture. Another representative work is the striking image of a goddess, with each raised hand waving a snake. This statue made of painted pottery dates back to around 1600 BC. Her * * * represents the role of her fertility goddess, and the snake and cat on her head symbolize her rule over the wild. These two figures are in the heraklion Archaeological Museum in Crete.
Minos mural
Minoans decorated their palaces with real murals, that is, they painted colored pigments on wet lime putty without adhesive, so that when the pigment was absorbed by plaster, it would fix and prevent fading. Mural Festival, that is, the application of paint, especially in details, the whole palace is also made of dry gypsum, because low relief is used in gypsum, which produces a shallow three-dimensional effect. The colors used are black, red, white, yellow, blue and green. There are no surviving examples of shadow effects in Minoan murals, although it is interesting that sometimes the background color changes and the foreground theme remains the same. Although the Egyptians did not use real murals, the Minoan people adopted some color conventions in their architectural paintings. Male skin is usually red and female skin is white. For metals, gold is yellow, silver is blue and bronze is red.
Murals decorate the walls (the whole or above the doors and windows or below the dado), ceilings, wooden beams, and sometimes the floors of palace buildings. They first described abstract shape and geometric design, and then described various themes from miniature to surreal size. The most popular scenes are ceremonies, * * *, festivals, ceremonies and bullfights. Scenes in nature have become common again, especially lilies, irises, crocuses, roses, ivy and reeds. In fact, Minoan was one of the earliest cultures to draw natural scenery without any human existence. This is their admiration for nature. Animals are often depicted in their natural habitats, such as monkeys, birds, dolphins and fish.
Famous examples of Minos murals include two young boxers, young people with pulleys in the team, a group of men and women who jumped over bulls, a huge Griffin sitting on a striking red background, and dolphins and sea urchins swimming at the bottom of the sea. These can be seen in the original works (copies) of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, the Archaeological Museum in heraklion and Knossos in Crete.
Minos jewellery
The smelting technology in ancient Crete allowed the extraction of precious metals, such as gold, silver, bronze and gold-plated bronze. Use semi-precious stones such as crystal, carnelian, garnet, lapis lazuli, obsidian, red, green and topaz. Amethyst is also very popular. It was imported from Egypt, where it is no longer popular in jewelry. This fact shows that Minoan people are independent in materials and design. Minoan jewelers can also use painted pottery, enamel, talc (soapstone), ivory, shells, glass paste and blue frit or Egyptian blue (a synthetic intermediate between painted pottery and glass).
Minos jewelers have complete metalworking technology (except enamel), which can transform precious raw materials into an amazing number of articles and designs. Most of the works are handmade, but items such as rings are usually made by three-piece molds and lost wax technology. Beads are sometimes made in this way, so that these items can be mass-produced.
Gold is the most precious material, which has been beaten, carved, embossed, molded and stamped, and sometimes there are stamps. Other techniques include point relief, filigree (thin gold thread), inlay, gold foil covering and final granulation, in which tiny golden balls are attached to the main part by using a mixture of glue and copper salt, and these golden balls are converted into pure gold and copper when heated, and the two pieces are welded together.
Jewelry forms include crowns, necklaces, bracelets, beads, pendants, armbands, headband, clothing accessories, hairpins and hair accessories, brooches, chains, rings and earrings. Rings deserve special mention, because they are not only decorations, but also seals of management. Most include a slightly protruding oval gold bezel at right angles to a flat ring that is also gold. The circular bezel is usually engraved with detailed miniature scenes, representing hunting, fighting and jumping cows, goddesses, mythical creatures and animals and plants. These miniature masterpieces, such as murals and pottery decorations, show that Minoan people like to fill the whole usable surface, even if the graphics have to be distorted to accommodate them.
The two best Minoan jewels are pendants, one is a pair of bees and the other is the image of a bird. The former was found in Mary. It is in the shape of two bees (perhaps wasps or bumblebees). The details and fidelity are very realistic. There is a drop of honey between them, which is about to deposit into a round granular honeycomb. Above the bee is a spherical filament cage with a solid sphere inside, and three hollow disks decorated with filaments and particles are hung below the pendant. The second pendant, usually called the main animal pendant, came from Egina, although studies show that it originated in Crete and was probably looted in Mycenae. The pendant consists of something that seems to be a natural god or a priest. Each hand holds the neck of a waterfowl or goose and wears a typical Minoan costume-a belt, a loincloth and a front sheath. There are five disks hanging at the bottom of the pendant.
heritage
Minoan artists have greatly influenced the art of other Mediterranean islands, especially Rhode Island and cyclades, especially Scylla. Egypt and the Levant hired Minoan artists to beautify their rulers' palaces. Minoans also seriously influenced the art of Mycenae civilization based on the Greek mainland. Mycenae's ceramists, jewelers and mural painters, especially copied Minos' techniques, forms and designs. Although they did make marine life more abstract, their art generally included more martial arts and hunting themes.
As for the later period of ancient Greece and classical Greece, it is difficult to trace the artistic influence of Minos and Mycenae with concrete examples. Later Greeks certainly knew the legacy of their ancestors in the Aegean Sea. For example, Solas's Tomb and Mycenae Castle were never buried. Two axes (or depicting the rise of abrys in stones and murals) may combine to produce the legend of theseus and Minotaur where the maze lived, which is a very popular Greek myth in classical times. However, R. Higgins, an art historian, best describes the lasting legacy of Minoan people here:
Perhaps the greatest contribution of the Bronze Age to classical Greece is not obvious. But it is probably inherited: a mentality that can borrow oriental forms and theological arts and turn them into natural and pleasant things; A sacred discontent urged the Greeks to develop and improve their traditions. (Higgins, 190)