DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.808#0024
22
ARTHUR EVANS
Fig. 25.—Dixtynna Shoot-
ing FROM BOW, WEAHHG
' Sacral Knot.'
visible on its flank may be thought, indeed, to indicate its dappling. The
Goddess, who is richly attired with an embroidered skirt and seems to be
wearing a kind of crown on her head, is depicted as having just shot an arrow,
which has stuck between the shoulders of her quarry. The bow itself, from the
appearance of thongs that cross it at intervals, is of the composite or Asiatic
kind, differing thus from the earlier Minoan class, which seems to have been
of Nilotic origin.54 The manner in which she
holds the bow, still fully bent though the arrow
has been already shot, must be regarded as artistic
convention. In the intaglio she grasps the centre
of the bow with her left hand and pulls the string
with her right, which is the true action, though
in the impression (as seen in Fig. 24) it is reversed.
This is one of many proofs that the designs were
primarily intended to be looked at as they were
wrought by the engraver on the gold beads them-
selves. A parallel to this may be found in the
action of the female archer of matronly propor-
tions on a cornelian lentoid bead from Crete in the
Berlin Museum 55 (Fig. 25), where again the intaglio itself presents the true
view. The divine character of the personage on this gem, rightly identified
with the later Artemis by Furtwangler, is shown by the appearance on her
shoulder of a ' sacral knot' with its characteristic fringe.36
A remarkable feature in the design on the Thisbe intaglio, hitherto un-
exampled in Minoan art, is that the Goddess is half-turned round, so as to
present her back to the spectator, the object, apparently, being to display
the quiver with arrows sticking out from it, slung between her shoulders.
This is a favourite attitude for Artemis in Hellenistic art, as, for instance, on
Syraeusan coins of the close of the third century B.C.57 It is also illustrated
by gems from about that date onwards.58 That an arrangement so subtle
should have been adopted by a Minoan or Mycenaean artist some twelve
centuries earlier is an interesting phenomenon.
This attitude of the Goddess, bringing into full view the back part of her
short-sleeved corslet, shows a transversal strap passing over her right shoulder,
which receives fuller illustration from the Cretan lentoid above referred to
(Fig. 25). There a double strap appears in front together with the attachment
of a short sword or hunting knife in its sheath,59 a weapon necessary to the
huntress for the final despatch of her quarry.
54 See P. of M., ii. p. 50.
55 Furtwangler, Antike Gemmen, i. PL
II. No. 24 : Beschreibung der geschniltenen
Steine im Antiquarium, No. 2 (p. 1).
56 This feature, doubtfully regarded by
Furtwangler as a quiver, would certainly
not have escaped him had there been
fuller illustrative materials at the time when
he described this gem.
57 Head, Coinage of Syracuse (Num.
Chron. N.S., Vol XIV.), PI. XIII., 1 and 3
(' Democracy,' 215-212 B.C.).
58 I may instance a very fine Hellenistic
intaglio on a jacinth in my own Collection,
from Curzola (Corcyra Nigra).
59 Furtwangler, Beschreibung, etc., p. 1 :
' Vorne, quer uber den Bauch, geht ein
horizontaler Gegenstand, wie es scheint
ein Sehwert in der Scheide, das an einem
deutlich sichtbaren Bande um die Brust
gehangt ist.'
ARTHUR EVANS
Fig. 25.—Dixtynna Shoot-
ing FROM BOW, WEAHHG
' Sacral Knot.'
visible on its flank may be thought, indeed, to indicate its dappling. The
Goddess, who is richly attired with an embroidered skirt and seems to be
wearing a kind of crown on her head, is depicted as having just shot an arrow,
which has stuck between the shoulders of her quarry. The bow itself, from the
appearance of thongs that cross it at intervals, is of the composite or Asiatic
kind, differing thus from the earlier Minoan class, which seems to have been
of Nilotic origin.54 The manner in which she
holds the bow, still fully bent though the arrow
has been already shot, must be regarded as artistic
convention. In the intaglio she grasps the centre
of the bow with her left hand and pulls the string
with her right, which is the true action, though
in the impression (as seen in Fig. 24) it is reversed.
This is one of many proofs that the designs were
primarily intended to be looked at as they were
wrought by the engraver on the gold beads them-
selves. A parallel to this may be found in the
action of the female archer of matronly propor-
tions on a cornelian lentoid bead from Crete in the
Berlin Museum 55 (Fig. 25), where again the intaglio itself presents the true
view. The divine character of the personage on this gem, rightly identified
with the later Artemis by Furtwangler, is shown by the appearance on her
shoulder of a ' sacral knot' with its characteristic fringe.36
A remarkable feature in the design on the Thisbe intaglio, hitherto un-
exampled in Minoan art, is that the Goddess is half-turned round, so as to
present her back to the spectator, the object, apparently, being to display
the quiver with arrows sticking out from it, slung between her shoulders.
This is a favourite attitude for Artemis in Hellenistic art, as, for instance, on
Syraeusan coins of the close of the third century B.C.57 It is also illustrated
by gems from about that date onwards.58 That an arrangement so subtle
should have been adopted by a Minoan or Mycenaean artist some twelve
centuries earlier is an interesting phenomenon.
This attitude of the Goddess, bringing into full view the back part of her
short-sleeved corslet, shows a transversal strap passing over her right shoulder,
which receives fuller illustration from the Cretan lentoid above referred to
(Fig. 25). There a double strap appears in front together with the attachment
of a short sword or hunting knife in its sheath,59 a weapon necessary to the
huntress for the final despatch of her quarry.
54 See P. of M., ii. p. 50.
55 Furtwangler, Antike Gemmen, i. PL
II. No. 24 : Beschreibung der geschniltenen
Steine im Antiquarium, No. 2 (p. 1).
56 This feature, doubtfully regarded by
Furtwangler as a quiver, would certainly
not have escaped him had there been
fuller illustrative materials at the time when
he described this gem.
57 Head, Coinage of Syracuse (Num.
Chron. N.S., Vol XIV.), PI. XIII., 1 and 3
(' Democracy,' 215-212 B.C.).
58 I may instance a very fine Hellenistic
intaglio on a jacinth in my own Collection,
from Curzola (Corcyra Nigra).
59 Furtwangler, Beschreibung, etc., p. 1 :
' Vorne, quer uber den Bauch, geht ein
horizontaler Gegenstand, wie es scheint
ein Sehwert in der Scheide, das an einem
deutlich sichtbaren Bande um die Brust
gehangt ist.'