DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.811#0430
THE 'DOLPHIN FRESCO' 377
demolished a large part of the remains of the second wall to supply their
materials.
The 'Dolphin Fresco'.
The tearingf down of the fresco itself, and the throwing; out of its Remains
fragments, may well have been due to the same agency, and in that case °hin
this fresco decoration with its lively designs of fishes—which, as already Fresco'.
shown, belongs to the advanced naturalistic style of the M. M. Ill Period—
may have kept its place on part of the walls to the close of the palatial Age
(Fig. 251).
Many other remains of the ' Dolphin Fresco ' were also found within
the covered sections of the ' Megaron ',* and its place there on a plaster
backing to the rubble face of the walls above the high gypsum dado slabs
was natural enough. The occurrence of the remains of this fresco on each Over-
side of the stump of the destroyed M. M. Ill b East wall, had from the first 0af^"|ra.
suggested that it had also extended to the upper field of this wall,2 but the tive
natural objection to this is that, according to the results of wide observation,
the walls of Minoan light-areas were consistently faced with ashlar masonry
which does not lend itself to the fresco technique. The possibility, indeed,
cannot be excluded that, this being an exceptionally small light-court, the
inner face of the upper part of its back wall may have been of rubble con-
struction and have been treated like that of a covered space. There was,
indeed, no real objection to such a procedure in a small well-protected area,
since the ability of the Minoan fresco paintings to resist the weather was
almost unlimited. Pieces of stucco that had already fallen from the walls
during the palatial Age, and had been subject to long exposure, were found
with their colours almost as fresh as when they were painted on the walls.
A coloured fragment, moreover, of this class exposed to sun and rain for
about thirty years, from the first days of the excavation, shows no visible
deterioration in the brilliant hues.
That the face of the ashlar masonry of light-areas was itself habitually Tiaces of
covered with a thin painted stucco coating is certain, and a good illustration stucco
of this occurred on the South side of the light-court of the ' Oueen's on,1,,ght:,
& . ' ■ well wall.
Megaron' itself. Some of the limestone blocks of this show a stucco
coating about 3 millimetres thick, with a pale ochreous tint.
The fragments of the ' Dolphin Fresco ' that presented most of the Section of
principal designs were put together in a manner calculated to restore some- phin
thing of the original effect. The nucleus of the composition was supplied Fresc°'
1 A large part of one fish was found somewhat farther to the South.
2 A. E., Knossos, Report, 1902.
demolished a large part of the remains of the second wall to supply their
materials.
The 'Dolphin Fresco'.
The tearingf down of the fresco itself, and the throwing; out of its Remains
fragments, may well have been due to the same agency, and in that case °hin
this fresco decoration with its lively designs of fishes—which, as already Fresco'.
shown, belongs to the advanced naturalistic style of the M. M. Ill Period—
may have kept its place on part of the walls to the close of the palatial Age
(Fig. 251).
Many other remains of the ' Dolphin Fresco ' were also found within
the covered sections of the ' Megaron ',* and its place there on a plaster
backing to the rubble face of the walls above the high gypsum dado slabs
was natural enough. The occurrence of the remains of this fresco on each Over-
side of the stump of the destroyed M. M. Ill b East wall, had from the first 0af^"|ra.
suggested that it had also extended to the upper field of this wall,2 but the tive
natural objection to this is that, according to the results of wide observation,
the walls of Minoan light-areas were consistently faced with ashlar masonry
which does not lend itself to the fresco technique. The possibility, indeed,
cannot be excluded that, this being an exceptionally small light-court, the
inner face of the upper part of its back wall may have been of rubble con-
struction and have been treated like that of a covered space. There was,
indeed, no real objection to such a procedure in a small well-protected area,
since the ability of the Minoan fresco paintings to resist the weather was
almost unlimited. Pieces of stucco that had already fallen from the walls
during the palatial Age, and had been subject to long exposure, were found
with their colours almost as fresh as when they were painted on the walls.
A coloured fragment, moreover, of this class exposed to sun and rain for
about thirty years, from the first days of the excavation, shows no visible
deterioration in the brilliant hues.
That the face of the ashlar masonry of light-areas was itself habitually Tiaces of
covered with a thin painted stucco coating is certain, and a good illustration stucco
of this occurred on the South side of the light-court of the ' Oueen's on,1,,ght:,
& . ' ■ well wall.
Megaron' itself. Some of the limestone blocks of this show a stucco
coating about 3 millimetres thick, with a pale ochreous tint.
The fragments of the ' Dolphin Fresco ' that presented most of the Section of
principal designs were put together in a manner calculated to restore some- phin
thing of the original effect. The nucleus of the composition was supplied Fresc°'
1 A large part of one fish was found somewhat farther to the South.
2 A. E., Knossos, Report, 1902.