Aegean Art
Key IdeasIn the late 1800s, Heinrich Schliemann started to excavate some of the very cities at Mycenae that Homer had described in the Illiad. The Cycladic Islands are still a bit of a mystery when it comes to the marble male and female figurines found at burial sites. The great Palace at Knossos, located on Crete, is where one of the first Western civilizations emerged.
1. Cycladic figurines are based on conjecture usually found at burial sites. 2. Early Minoan culture is open and non-militaristic. Includes great palace architecture 3. Mycenae mercenaries made stops in Crete to and from Egypt 4. Early to mid 15th c. BCE earthquakes and tsunamis weaken Minoan cities; mostly likely assimilated into Mycenaean culture. |
TimelineNeed to know dates:
2500 BCE: Cycladic 1500 BCE: Minoan 1250 BCE: Mycenaen
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Additional Resources |
VocabularyPainting/Sculpture:
fresco profile view motifs negative/positive shapes organic/geometric designs incised lines repoussé Architecture: labyrinth tapered column abacus citadel stone courses tholos/beehive tomb cyclopean masonry corbelling megaron |
Artwork ListCycladic
Cycladic Figurines Minoan Kamares Pottery Harvester Vase Leaping Bull Palace at Knossos Mycenaean Agamemnon’s Mask Tholos Tombs (Treasury of Atreus) Lion Gate |
Notecard Images
Acknowledgements: Information contributed by Silvia Wiedman
Links and information provided by Valerie M. Park © 2013 www.mchsapah.com
Special thanks to the AP Summer Institute in Rome collaboration with Margaret Sharkoffmadrid
Links and information provided by Valerie M. Park © 2013 www.mchsapah.com
Special thanks to the AP Summer Institute in Rome collaboration with Margaret Sharkoffmadrid