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THE ICONOGRAPHY and USE of MINOAN VERSUS MYCENAEAN WALL PAINTINGS Sarah L. Hilker a Thesis Submitted to the Faculty at the Unive

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THE ICONOGRAPHY and USE of MINOAN VERSUS MYCENAEAN WALL PAINTINGS Sarah L. Hilker a Thesis Submitted to the Faculty at the Unive THE ICONOGRAPHY AND USE OF MINOAN VERSUS MYCENAEAN WALL PAINTINGS Sarah L. Hilker A thesis submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Classics (Archaeology). Chapel Hill 2014 Approved By: Donald Haggis Jennifer Gates-Foster Kenneth Sams © 2014 Sarah L. Hilker ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Sarah L. Hilker: The Iconography and Use of Minoan versus Mycenaean Wall Paintings (Under the direction of Donald Haggis) Wall painting is an important aspect of Middle to Late Bronze Age art in the Aegean. The Mycenaean frescoes on the mainland are typically portrayed as a decadent form of art, declined in quality from their Minoan predecessors. Furthermore, Mycenaeans are often thought to have misunderstood Minoan motifs. In this thesis, following description and analysis of the Minoan frescoes from Knossos and Akrotiri, and the Mycenaean frescoes from Pylos and Mycenae, I argue that Mycenaean elites consciously made Minoan art their own. The technology and iconography of wall painting was adapted for use within their own culture and social structure. Wall paintings are also situated within broader discourses on the function of palaces and the transfer of culture. iii To my Grandfather, who always encouraged the pursuit of learning. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................. vii LIST OF ABREVIATIONS.................................................................................................................... xvii I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 1 History of Research ................................................................................................................................ 2 Problems of the Study ............................................................................................................................. 3 Origins and Technology of Wall Painting ............................................................................................... 5 General Differences between Minoan and Mycenaean Painting ............................................................. 8 Framework for the Study ........................................................................................................................ 9 Function of the Palaces..................................................................................................................... 10 Minoanization and Mycenaeanization .............................................................................................. 14 II. FRESCO PROGRAM AT KNOSSOS ................................................................................................. 16 Protopalatial examples .......................................................................................................................... 16 Neopalatial ............................................................................................................................................ 17 The Palace Frescoes ......................................................................................................................... 17 House of the Frescoes ....................................................................................................................... 25 ‘Caravanserai’ .................................................................................................................................. 26 Other Buildings ................................................................................................................................. 29 Monopalatial Period .............................................................................................................................. 31 III. FRESCO PROGRAM AT AKROTIRI ............................................................................................... 41 Xeste 3 .................................................................................................................................................. 41 West House ........................................................................................................................................... 45 v Other Buildings ..................................................................................................................................... 54 IV. FRESCO PROGRAM AT PYLOS ..................................................................................................... 59 Early Material ....................................................................................................................................... 59 Megaron Complex ................................................................................................................................ 61 Hall 46 .................................................................................................................................................. 69 Hall 64 .................................................................................................................................................. 73 V. FRESCO PROGRAM AT MYCENAE ............................................................................................... 79 Early Frescoes ....................................................................................................................................... 79 Megaron ................................................................................................................................................ 80 Cult Center ............................................................................................................................................ 84 VI. COMPARISON .................................................................................................................................. 90 Fresco Topics ........................................................................................................................................ 91 Humans and Divinities .......................................................................................................................... 95 Animals and Nature .............................................................................................................................. 97 Use within the Palaces .......................................................................................................................... 98 Minoanization and Mycenaeanization................................................................................................. 102 FIGURES ............................................................................................................................................... 104 WORKS CITED ..................................................................................................................................... 179 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 - Map of the Eastern Mediterranean (Jones and Photos-Jones 2005, fig. 13.1). ................................................................................................................104 Figure 2 - Comparison of (High) Aegean Dating Systems (Manning 2012, Table 2.2). ........................................................................................................................104 Figure 3 - High Versus Low Aegean Chronology (Shelmerdine 2008, fig, I.2). ...................................................................................................................................105 Figure 4 - Main locations of frescoes in the Palace at Knossos (Immerwahr 1990, fig. 25). Locations: 1. Flowering Olive Fresco (Basement west of Stepped Portico); 2."Palanquin" fresco (Kn No. 25, Room of the Clay Matrix); 3. ''Jewel" fresco (Kn No.9, Magazine of the Vase Tablets); 4. Miniature frescoes (Kn No. 18, Thirteenth Magazine); 5. "Campstool" fresco (Kn No. 26, West Facade); 6. Bull-grappling fresco (Kn No. 31, Northwest Treasury); 7. Textile Fragments?, Boys Playing Game? (Kn Nos. 14, 19, Northwest fresco heap); 8. Saffron-Gatherer (Kn No. 1, Room of the Saffron- Gatherer); 9. Miniature frescoes (Kn Nos. 15, 16, 17, 38, Room of the Spiral Cornice); 10. "Ladies in Blue" (Kn No. 11); 11. Taureador panels (Kn No. 23, Court of the Stone Spout); 12. Part of “Palanquin"-Chariot fresco (Kn No. 25, Lapidary's Workshop); 13. Ivory deposit; 14.: "Dancing Girl" and Dolphin fresco (?) (Kn Nos. 24, 6, Light area east of Queen's Megaron); 15. Nature frescoes (Kn No. 5, Southeast House); 16. Chamber northeast of excavated area. .................................................................................................................106 Figure 5 - MMIB painted plaster with red striped border from Royal Road South, Knossos (Cameron 1976, plate 3C). .....................................................................107 Figure 6 - MMIB or earlier dado design from the “Loomweights Basement,” Knossos (Cameron 1976, plate 4E). ............................................................107 Figure 7 - Female figure from the fill beneath the Corridor of the Procession, Knossos (PM II, 2, fig. 431). .......................................................................108 Figure 8 – Reconstruction of the “Ladies in Blue” from Knossos (Author’s photo, Heraklion Museum 2013).....................................................................108
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