DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1118#0531
SIGNIFICANCE OF'SHIELD FRESCO' 88I
e imuj;i__o'oes back to the second decade of the Sixteenth Century B.C.,
i :je t'nat of User-Amon,2 where, as in the other, we have many copies of
ontemporary Minoan vessels, belongs to the beginning of Thothmes Ill's
reign (c. 1500 B-c-)'-
The echo of these processional records may well have reached Knossos
bv the opening of the Fifteenth Century B.C., to which date on various
o-rounds the beginning of the L. M. I b ceramic style has been here assigned.
Its 'voo'ue' thus roughly corresponds with the reign of Thothmes III,
anc]__as is best shown from the painted pottery found in connexion with the
presumed ' South-West Sanctuary'3—practically represents the earliest class
of ware stratified within the later Palace precincts.
Fragments found North-West of the Palace borders tend to show that Extension
this stately decorative system was not confined to the Entrance Corridor "ess'ional
and Propyiaea, but had extended to the whole of the piano nobile on that yCllAm?j"
side of the building. Oilier important pieces found in the area of the Palace.
' Domestic Quarter' also point at least to its partial adoption on that side.
In their lavish repetition, indeed, of costly offerings to the great Goddess
of the Palace sanctuary these processional scenes show a kindred spirit
of display to that exhibited by the 'Shield Fresco'. On the whole,
however, the 'Shield Fresco'—so significant of military parade—seems to
have belonged to a somewhat later stage and, indeed, had probably re-
placed a Processional scheme on the Grand Staircase.
It is noteworthy that the ceramic associations of the ' shield fresco 'fit on Reflection
to the fabrics of the L. M. I b and L. M. II styles. The combination of the rr^™ld
Minoan 8-shaped shield with a spiral band already appears on a remarkable on L.M-
polychrome goblet from Grave V at Isopata4 of L. M. II date, with unfixed
colouring, designed in usum mortuoriim, and paralleled in this respect by
some painted clay braziers from Hagia Triada belonging to the latest
palatial stratum there, which overlaps the L. M. lb Period. In various
other L. M. I b connexions this form of shield was in fact common on the
site of Knossos, and among wares exported overseas as far afield as Gezer
in Palestine.6 On the other hand, the motive of Minoan shields linked
with spirals enclosing rosettes, as in the case of the Fresco, is found on
1 P. ofM., ii, Pt. II, pp. 736-S. • P. of Jlf., iii, p. 312, Fig. 200 (from
1 &■> P- 534seqq. and Figs. 337, 340, and aryballos), Cf. R. A. S. Macalister, The
PP-736. 737- . Exeav. of Gezer) vol. ii, p. 155, -Fig.'3-iS. A
See above, Pt I, p. 355 seqq.and Fig. 301. fragment of a similar vessel from Phylakopi
' SzeP.ofM;, iii, p. 310, Fig. 198 a, and cf. (It., Fig. 2ot; Phylakopi,PI. XXXI? 5) shows
A. P., The Tomb of the Double Axes (Archaco- the shield in connexion with the 'Canopied
fogia, vol. I.XV), p. 27,Fig. 37,«andcf. PI.IV. Was' motive 0CLMA6. It occurs on a
e imuj;i__o'oes back to the second decade of the Sixteenth Century B.C.,
i :je t'nat of User-Amon,2 where, as in the other, we have many copies of
ontemporary Minoan vessels, belongs to the beginning of Thothmes Ill's
reign (c. 1500 B-c-)'-
The echo of these processional records may well have reached Knossos
bv the opening of the Fifteenth Century B.C., to which date on various
o-rounds the beginning of the L. M. I b ceramic style has been here assigned.
Its 'voo'ue' thus roughly corresponds with the reign of Thothmes III,
anc]__as is best shown from the painted pottery found in connexion with the
presumed ' South-West Sanctuary'3—practically represents the earliest class
of ware stratified within the later Palace precincts.
Fragments found North-West of the Palace borders tend to show that Extension
this stately decorative system was not confined to the Entrance Corridor "ess'ional
and Propyiaea, but had extended to the whole of the piano nobile on that yCllAm?j"
side of the building. Oilier important pieces found in the area of the Palace.
' Domestic Quarter' also point at least to its partial adoption on that side.
In their lavish repetition, indeed, of costly offerings to the great Goddess
of the Palace sanctuary these processional scenes show a kindred spirit
of display to that exhibited by the 'Shield Fresco'. On the whole,
however, the 'Shield Fresco'—so significant of military parade—seems to
have belonged to a somewhat later stage and, indeed, had probably re-
placed a Processional scheme on the Grand Staircase.
It is noteworthy that the ceramic associations of the ' shield fresco 'fit on Reflection
to the fabrics of the L. M. I b and L. M. II styles. The combination of the rr^™ld
Minoan 8-shaped shield with a spiral band already appears on a remarkable on L.M-
polychrome goblet from Grave V at Isopata4 of L. M. II date, with unfixed
colouring, designed in usum mortuoriim, and paralleled in this respect by
some painted clay braziers from Hagia Triada belonging to the latest
palatial stratum there, which overlaps the L. M. lb Period. In various
other L. M. I b connexions this form of shield was in fact common on the
site of Knossos, and among wares exported overseas as far afield as Gezer
in Palestine.6 On the other hand, the motive of Minoan shields linked
with spirals enclosing rosettes, as in the case of the Fresco, is found on
1 P. ofM., ii, Pt. II, pp. 736-S. • P. of Jlf., iii, p. 312, Fig. 200 (from
1 &■> P- 534seqq. and Figs. 337, 340, and aryballos), Cf. R. A. S. Macalister, The
PP-736. 737- . Exeav. of Gezer) vol. ii, p. 155, -Fig.'3-iS. A
See above, Pt I, p. 355 seqq.and Fig. 301. fragment of a similar vessel from Phylakopi
' SzeP.ofM;, iii, p. 310, Fig. 198 a, and cf. (It., Fig. 2ot; Phylakopi,PI. XXXI? 5) shows
A. P., The Tomb of the Double Axes (Archaco- the shield in connexion with the 'Canopied
fogia, vol. I.XV), p. 27,Fig. 37,«andcf. PI.IV. Was' motive 0CLMA6. It occurs on a