DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.811#0163
126 CHARACTERISTICS OF LATE GREEK COPIES
Canea
find.
Minoans
person-
ally ac-
quainted
with lions
in every
aspect.
Lion
sacred
toMinoan
Goddess.
intaglios of that epoch and all alike set swivel fashion in silver hoops. Not-
withstanding the double coincidence that it involves, the two Minoan designs
here brought to light are certainly copied from the two Shaft Grave
examples or from very exact replicas of the same with several divergencies
due to misunderstanding of the originals by the later engraver.1 Since, in
any case, the authenticity and considerable age of the whole group cannot
be questioned, we have here clear instances of a revival by a Hellenistic
artist of types belonging to the earlier civilization—recalling the imitation
of classical forms of which we have such repeated illustration in the days of
the Italian Renaissance.
In comparing Fig. 79 with Fig. 78 the differentiation from the earlier
design is very instructive. The lion is less sinewy and mighty. The hero's
hinder foot—as only in later scenes of contest—points backwards. The
Minoan ' shorts' have become unintelligible and the belt is omitted. Finally,
the short-sword, impossibly directed by the hero behind his shoulder, is
of the post-Minoan leaf-shaped type. Equally significant variations are
visible in the companion piece. (See opposite, Fig. 80, a, b, and note.)
Many leonine types of Classical Age may thus go back to earlier models,
informed by a fuller personal acquaintance with the great beast.
The lion, indeed, is too omnipresent in the Religion, as well as
in the Art of the Minoans, not to have been known to their herdsmen and
hunters in ordinary life. Lions, under a great variety of aspects and
attitudes, are a constant theme of engraved gems. Males appear caressing
their mates, lionesses with their cubs; often they are seen lying in pairs,
looking different ways. A lion with his head down is nosing a trail, others
grip stags or oxen or bear them in their mighty jaws, or, again, they dispute
the possession of their prey. Sometimes they are seen in headlong flight,
as on the dagger-blade; sometimes they are mortally wounded; in one case
two hunters seize upon the carcase with the purpose, apparently, of securing
the skin. The lion's head—itself an early hieroglyph—is a sacred symbol,
six times repeated on the border of the great Mycenae signet. The sacral
' her head ornamented with a large crown'.
This travesty of the subject was embodied by
the artist in' No. 313', unfortunately taken over
by Milchhofer (Anfdnge der Kunst, p. 38,
Fig. 43). The design, however, has been rightly
published since Helbig's illustration (Horn.
Kpos,ii%l ed., p. 313, Fig. 119). It represents,
in fact, two warriors, one stabbing the other,
who is falling backwards on his shield(Fig. 80, a).
1 The intaglio on the other side of the
bezel is set beside its prototype on the opposite
page, Fig. 80, a, b. The original is on a sard-
onyx. This was strangely mis-described by
Schliemann {Mycenae, p. 202) as a man 'wear-
ing a helmet with a long crest' (the studded
border of the shield !) seated before 'a woman
in a costly dress, open at the breast and with
gold buttons' (the studs of the shield) and
Canea
find.
Minoans
person-
ally ac-
quainted
with lions
in every
aspect.
Lion
sacred
toMinoan
Goddess.
intaglios of that epoch and all alike set swivel fashion in silver hoops. Not-
withstanding the double coincidence that it involves, the two Minoan designs
here brought to light are certainly copied from the two Shaft Grave
examples or from very exact replicas of the same with several divergencies
due to misunderstanding of the originals by the later engraver.1 Since, in
any case, the authenticity and considerable age of the whole group cannot
be questioned, we have here clear instances of a revival by a Hellenistic
artist of types belonging to the earlier civilization—recalling the imitation
of classical forms of which we have such repeated illustration in the days of
the Italian Renaissance.
In comparing Fig. 79 with Fig. 78 the differentiation from the earlier
design is very instructive. The lion is less sinewy and mighty. The hero's
hinder foot—as only in later scenes of contest—points backwards. The
Minoan ' shorts' have become unintelligible and the belt is omitted. Finally,
the short-sword, impossibly directed by the hero behind his shoulder, is
of the post-Minoan leaf-shaped type. Equally significant variations are
visible in the companion piece. (See opposite, Fig. 80, a, b, and note.)
Many leonine types of Classical Age may thus go back to earlier models,
informed by a fuller personal acquaintance with the great beast.
The lion, indeed, is too omnipresent in the Religion, as well as
in the Art of the Minoans, not to have been known to their herdsmen and
hunters in ordinary life. Lions, under a great variety of aspects and
attitudes, are a constant theme of engraved gems. Males appear caressing
their mates, lionesses with their cubs; often they are seen lying in pairs,
looking different ways. A lion with his head down is nosing a trail, others
grip stags or oxen or bear them in their mighty jaws, or, again, they dispute
the possession of their prey. Sometimes they are seen in headlong flight,
as on the dagger-blade; sometimes they are mortally wounded; in one case
two hunters seize upon the carcase with the purpose, apparently, of securing
the skin. The lion's head—itself an early hieroglyph—is a sacred symbol,
six times repeated on the border of the great Mycenae signet. The sacral
' her head ornamented with a large crown'.
This travesty of the subject was embodied by
the artist in' No. 313', unfortunately taken over
by Milchhofer (Anfdnge der Kunst, p. 38,
Fig. 43). The design, however, has been rightly
published since Helbig's illustration (Horn.
Kpos,ii%l ed., p. 313, Fig. 119). It represents,
in fact, two warriors, one stabbing the other,
who is falling backwards on his shield(Fig. 80, a).
1 The intaglio on the other side of the
bezel is set beside its prototype on the opposite
page, Fig. 80, a, b. The original is on a sard-
onyx. This was strangely mis-described by
Schliemann {Mycenae, p. 202) as a man 'wear-
ing a helmet with a long crest' (the studded
border of the shield !) seated before 'a woman
in a costly dress, open at the breast and with
gold buttons' (the studs of the shield) and