DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.811#0569
Minoan
Art
516 DISPOSITION OF RELIEFS IN PORTICOES
Fre- In advanced Late Minoan and Mycenaean Art such 'antithetic' types
oUe'osed°f w't^1 a centra' column are constantly repeated, and they may be said to
animal become common on gems and signet-rings from the later phase of L. M. I
LateS'" onwards. That prototypes like the Griffin frieze should have existed in the
greater Art already at the opening of the New Era and at a slightly earlier
date than that of the appearance of similar schemes on seals and ivories is
only what might have been expected.
Agonistic As to the respective parts played by the agonistic or acrobatic composi-
probabiy ti0ns anc' tne Griffin friezes in the adornment of the great' East Hall' there
°f hVa'i!s 's every reason f°r concluding that the former, which required more room for
section of their development, would have occupied the wider spaces offered by the
back wall to the East and part of the sides of this large interior section. The
amount of space here available on the back wall was about fifteen metres,
to which another seven and a half metres may probably be added for the
two spaces between the corners on either side and the neighbouring door-
ways North and South, above postulated.
This gives 22-5 metres in all, or about 73 feet, of wall-space for the
reliefs set out in the interior section of the Hall. Assuming that this space
was reserved for the fine agonistic subjects, the disposition of these becomes
an interesting question. They belong, as we have seen, to two distinct
classes, those relating to such sports as boxing and wrestling, and the series
connected with the Corrida and bull-grappling scenes, and what has to be
considered is whether this amount of wall-space was really sufficient for the
full development and succession of feats of such variety. It may also be
asked how the episodes in which bulls took part could well be fitted on to
those depicting human figures only.
Double It is obvious that—apart from the difference in the subject, which
reliefs. would break the homogeneity of the series—the scenes involving the bulls
as well as the performers and such acts as the seizing of the horns from above
would need a higher space than the others. But the lofty character of the
Hall, which, with columns four and a half metres high, would admit of a height
of at least five metres-—or 16 feet—for the back and side walls, might afford
ample space for two tiers of subjects. It has already been assumed in the case
of the Processional frescoes that the arrangement of a double row of figures
had been adopted in the South Propylaeum (where the columns seem to
have been of the same height as in the East Hall) and elsewhere, as in the
Stepped Porch opposite. The setting of compositions representing re-
spectively pugilistic and bull-grappling sports one above the other is in fact
paralleled by the zones of small reliefs on the Hagia Triada ' rhyton'.
Art
516 DISPOSITION OF RELIEFS IN PORTICOES
Fre- In advanced Late Minoan and Mycenaean Art such 'antithetic' types
oUe'osed°f w't^1 a centra' column are constantly repeated, and they may be said to
animal become common on gems and signet-rings from the later phase of L. M. I
LateS'" onwards. That prototypes like the Griffin frieze should have existed in the
greater Art already at the opening of the New Era and at a slightly earlier
date than that of the appearance of similar schemes on seals and ivories is
only what might have been expected.
Agonistic As to the respective parts played by the agonistic or acrobatic composi-
probabiy ti0ns anc' tne Griffin friezes in the adornment of the great' East Hall' there
°f hVa'i!s 's every reason f°r concluding that the former, which required more room for
section of their development, would have occupied the wider spaces offered by the
back wall to the East and part of the sides of this large interior section. The
amount of space here available on the back wall was about fifteen metres,
to which another seven and a half metres may probably be added for the
two spaces between the corners on either side and the neighbouring door-
ways North and South, above postulated.
This gives 22-5 metres in all, or about 73 feet, of wall-space for the
reliefs set out in the interior section of the Hall. Assuming that this space
was reserved for the fine agonistic subjects, the disposition of these becomes
an interesting question. They belong, as we have seen, to two distinct
classes, those relating to such sports as boxing and wrestling, and the series
connected with the Corrida and bull-grappling scenes, and what has to be
considered is whether this amount of wall-space was really sufficient for the
full development and succession of feats of such variety. It may also be
asked how the episodes in which bulls took part could well be fitted on to
those depicting human figures only.
Double It is obvious that—apart from the difference in the subject, which
reliefs. would break the homogeneity of the series—the scenes involving the bulls
as well as the performers and such acts as the seizing of the horns from above
would need a higher space than the others. But the lofty character of the
Hall, which, with columns four and a half metres high, would admit of a height
of at least five metres-—or 16 feet—for the back and side walls, might afford
ample space for two tiers of subjects. It has already been assumed in the case
of the Processional frescoes that the arrangement of a double row of figures
had been adopted in the South Propylaeum (where the columns seem to
have been of the same height as in the East Hall) and elsewhere, as in the
Stepped Porch opposite. The setting of compositions representing re-
spectively pugilistic and bull-grappling sports one above the other is in fact
paralleled by the zones of small reliefs on the Hagia Triada ' rhyton'.