DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.811#0063
34 M.M. Ill DATE OF MINIATURE FRESCOES
under the walls of the restored building, did not come down beyond the
later phase [b) of the M. M. Ill Period.1 There was no intrusion, indeed,
of anything that could be ascribed even to the beginning of the First Late
Minoan Period. But among the sherds thus defined there occurred—under
the second base-slab near the S.W. corner of the Court3—a small fragment
of a miniature stucco painting, showing the stepped outer edge of an
entablature, with impressed thread lines and disk
such as might well have belonged to the same
deposit as the ' Temple Fresco'. A reproduction
of it by Monsieur E. Gillieron, fils, is given in
Fig. 1<>.
Fragment A further important confirmation of these
'Ivory stratigraphic results was supplied by some exquisite Fig. 16. Miniature
Deposit'. fragments of Miniature Fresco described below3, FRA0-«NT FKOM UNDER
& _ ' Base-slab.
depicting part of a Double-Axe shrine and of a
bull, found in the * Ivory Deposit' of the Domestic Quarter, the date of
which is shown by the ceramic evidence to go well back within the limits of
M.M. III.4
It will be seen from the evidences above .referred to that cogent proof
exists of the Miniature style of fresco painting having been fully developed
by the early part at least of M. M. Ill i. On the other hand, the fact that
the later M. M. Ill style was still prevalent in the early days of the restored
Palace makes it quite possible that those who continued to manufacture pottery
of the older class may in the same way have adhered to the practice of Minia-
ture painting in decorating the walls. It is on the whole most probable, in
view of the position occupied by their fallen remnants.that the ' Temple Fresco'
and its companion pieces date from the early days of the restored Palace.
True What, however, is certain is that there are no examples at Knossos of
tare style fresco design of the true 'Miniature' class, with its multiplicity of small
obsolete figures and ' shorthand' technique, that can be attributed to the Late Minoan
bv L.M.I. ° , i-i,i
Age. The compositions of the concluding Palace periods show larger
figures, more sparsely distributed, as we see in the case, for instance, of
'Taureador' and 'Camp-stool Frescoes'. The seated Miniature ladies
associated with the groups above described, if in an upright position, would
be about io centimetres in height, the restored figure on the balcony
(Fig. 35, below) is o-8 cm.: those standing on the piers only 0-55 though we
can hardly assume that this was an attempt at perspective. The female
1 P. of M., ii, Pt. II, pp. 802, S03. s See below, p. 207 seqq.
2 See test 17 (1925): revised, 1926. 4 See below, pp. 402, 403.
under the walls of the restored building, did not come down beyond the
later phase [b) of the M. M. Ill Period.1 There was no intrusion, indeed,
of anything that could be ascribed even to the beginning of the First Late
Minoan Period. But among the sherds thus defined there occurred—under
the second base-slab near the S.W. corner of the Court3—a small fragment
of a miniature stucco painting, showing the stepped outer edge of an
entablature, with impressed thread lines and disk
such as might well have belonged to the same
deposit as the ' Temple Fresco'. A reproduction
of it by Monsieur E. Gillieron, fils, is given in
Fig. 1<>.
Fragment A further important confirmation of these
'Ivory stratigraphic results was supplied by some exquisite Fig. 16. Miniature
Deposit'. fragments of Miniature Fresco described below3, FRA0-«NT FKOM UNDER
& _ ' Base-slab.
depicting part of a Double-Axe shrine and of a
bull, found in the * Ivory Deposit' of the Domestic Quarter, the date of
which is shown by the ceramic evidence to go well back within the limits of
M.M. III.4
It will be seen from the evidences above .referred to that cogent proof
exists of the Miniature style of fresco painting having been fully developed
by the early part at least of M. M. Ill i. On the other hand, the fact that
the later M. M. Ill style was still prevalent in the early days of the restored
Palace makes it quite possible that those who continued to manufacture pottery
of the older class may in the same way have adhered to the practice of Minia-
ture painting in decorating the walls. It is on the whole most probable, in
view of the position occupied by their fallen remnants.that the ' Temple Fresco'
and its companion pieces date from the early days of the restored Palace.
True What, however, is certain is that there are no examples at Knossos of
tare style fresco design of the true 'Miniature' class, with its multiplicity of small
obsolete figures and ' shorthand' technique, that can be attributed to the Late Minoan
bv L.M.I. ° , i-i,i
Age. The compositions of the concluding Palace periods show larger
figures, more sparsely distributed, as we see in the case, for instance, of
'Taureador' and 'Camp-stool Frescoes'. The seated Miniature ladies
associated with the groups above described, if in an upright position, would
be about io centimetres in height, the restored figure on the balcony
(Fig. 35, below) is o-8 cm.: those standing on the piers only 0-55 though we
can hardly assume that this was an attempt at perspective. The female
1 P. of M., ii, Pt. II, pp. 802, S03. s See below, p. 207 seqq.
2 See test 17 (1925): revised, 1926. 4 See below, pp. 402, 403.