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Documentary, National Archaeological Museum Prehistoric Collections 1988
In 1988, there was no singular event related to the National Archaeological Museum's Prehistoric Collections; however, it was the year the Vlastos-Serpieris Collection, containing ~760 antiquities from 3000 BCE to the 3rd century BCE, was bequeathed to the museum. Additionally, a documentary titled National Archaeological Museum, Prehistoric Collections was produced by the Ministry of Culture in 1988. The Prehistoric Collections at the museum, though, encompass unique art from the 7th millennium BC to 1050 BC, including the major civilizations of the Aegean.
The Vlastos-Serpieris Collection (1988)
Bequeathal:
The significant collection of antiquities from collector Demetrios Vlastos was officially bequeathed to the National Archaeological Museum in 1988, after the death of his daughter, Penelope-Ioulia Vlastos-Serpieris.
Contents:
The collection features approximately 760 artifacts dating from 3000 BCE to the 3rd century BCE, with a primary focus on Greece, particularly Attica, Boeotia, and Corinthia.
Archive:
The museum also received Vlastos's extensive archive, filled with notebooks, drawings, photographs, and correspondence.
The 1988 Documentary
A documentary film, National Archaeological Museum, Prehistoric Collections, was produced by the Ministry of Culture's Archaeological Receipts department in 1988.
The film, released on the Internet Archive in 2022, explores the Prehistoric Collections of the National Archaeological Museum.
The Prehistoric Collections of the National Archaeological Museum
Scope:
The collections focus on the major civilizations that flourished in the Aegean Sea from the 7th millennium BC to approximately 1050 BC.
Key Exhibits:
Highlights include unique works from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, such as treasures from the royal tombs of Mycenae, Linear B tablets, Cycladic marble figurines, and the wall paintings of Thera.
#NationalArchaeologicalMuseum #Museum #Prehistoric #Archaeological #Museum
In 1988, there was no singular event related to the National Archaeological Museum's Prehistoric Collections; however, it was the year the Vlastos-Serpieris Collection, containing ~760 antiquities from 3000 BCE to the 3rd century BCE, was bequeathed to the museum. Additionally, a documentary titled National Archaeological Museum, Prehistoric Collections was produced by the Ministry of Culture in 1988. The Prehistoric Collections at the museum, though, encompass unique art from the 7th millennium BC to 1050 BC, including the major civilizations of the Aegean.
The Vlastos-Serpieris Collection (1988)
Bequeathal:
The significant collection of antiquities from collector Demetrios Vlastos was officially bequeathed to the National Archaeological Museum in 1988, after the death of his daughter, Penelope-Ioulia Vlastos-Serpieris.
Contents:
The collection features approximately 760 artifacts dating from 3000 BCE to the 3rd century BCE, with a primary focus on Greece, particularly Attica, Boeotia, and Corinthia.
Archive:
The museum also received Vlastos's extensive archive, filled with notebooks, drawings, photographs, and correspondence.
The 1988 Documentary
A documentary film, National Archaeological Museum, Prehistoric Collections, was produced by the Ministry of Culture's Archaeological Receipts department in 1988.
The film, released on the Internet Archive in 2022, explores the Prehistoric Collections of the National Archaeological Museum.
The Prehistoric Collections of the National Archaeological Museum
Scope:
The collections focus on the major civilizations that flourished in the Aegean Sea from the 7th millennium BC to approximately 1050 BC.
Key Exhibits:
Highlights include unique works from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, such as treasures from the royal tombs of Mycenae, Linear B tablets, Cycladic marble figurines, and the wall paintings of Thera.
#NationalArchaeologicalMuseum #Museum #Prehistoric #Archaeological #Museum
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LearningTranscript
00:00Music
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00:26ORGAN PLAYS
00:56ORGAN PLAYS
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02:26ORGAN PLAYS
02:28The epithet national, as applied to the museum, could not be more apt.
02:33It epitomizes the true character of its contents.
02:36For this is the only archaeological museum in the world in which so many masterpieces of ancient art have been assembled,
02:44in which it is possible for the visitor to follow the history of Greek art in all its manifestations,
02:49in an unbroken sequence from its genesis in the Neolithic age to its final swan song in the Roman period.
02:57In spite of the enormous quantity of exhibits, it is not difficult to distinguish the basically most important collections.
03:05Scholarly specialists and lovers of the art alike will be able to form a lucid and coherent picture of Greek art and its originality of form.
03:15The manner in which the exhibits have been arranged was not fortuitously arrived at.
03:21It was actually conceived with a view to facilitating the visitors' progress through the various halls.
03:27The first distinction to be made is between the four prehistoric collections,
03:33those of Thessaly, the Cyclades, Thira and Mycenae.
03:37These serve as an excellent introduction to the principal works in the museum.
04:07The first civilization to grow in Greece was the Neolithic,
04:21and the most important Neolithic sites have been identified in Thessaly.
04:25When Christus Tsundas, a pioneer in prehistoric archaeology,
04:30started to excavate the two settlements of Dimeni and Sesclo near Volus,
04:34he opened the first chapter in the history of Greek civilization.
04:40At the beginning of the present century,
04:43there were no museums in those then remote parts of the country
04:47fit to house the important objects discovered in those exploratory excavations of prehistoric sites.
04:55That is why Tsundas had them removed to the National Archaeological Museum,
04:59where they still remain truncated, as it were, from the main body of finds,
05:04subsequently discovered, which now enrich the museum at Volus.
05:09Visitors to the National Archaeological Museum
05:12will consequently obtain their first glimpse of the dawn of Greek civilization
05:16in the clay idols and pottery of Neolithic Thessaly.
05:22The idols, in their sharp, clear-cut forms,
05:25their fold sometimes outsize volumes and the abandons of their motifs.
05:30They not only possess a deep and many-faceted religious symbolism,
05:35they also reflect the basic social and economic differentiations
05:39which existed in the first permanent agricultural societies of the Neolithic settlements.
05:46The Kuro-Trophos, the woman holding a child found at Sesclo, is depicted enthroned.
05:53She is relatively richly adorned, and she has obviously climbed higher up the social ladder
05:59than those wide-hipped female figures of the earlier Neolithic age,
06:03which are found in Thessaly and other parts of Greece.
06:08The intricate plasticity and architectural quality of a large idol,
06:1350 centimetres in height, representing a seated male figure,
06:17completes the picture, insofar as it illustrates the fact
06:21that religious and social requirements reflected in these works
06:25derive their source from relatively fairly developed levels of human existence.
06:31Conclusive evidence is found in the Neolithic vases.
06:35The clean outlines and flowing curves of the earlier examples
06:38are superseded by the more elaborate forms of the vases of the Middle Neolithic period
06:44with a simple, though accurately conceived and carefully elaborated decoration.
06:50In the late Neolithic period, these are replaced by volumes
06:53and decorative work of an unexpected dynamic quality,
06:57with complicated designs and colours,
07:00and an intricacy of composition which raises the question
07:03whether aesthetic feeling has mastered the calculated disposition of forms,
07:08or whether the potter, in his wisdom,
07:10has succeeded within the limits of the geometric motifs at his disposal
07:14to harp back to some rich and ancestral world
07:18and thus transcend his purely instinctive sensibility as an artist.
07:23In this hall, the visitor may cast a brief glance
07:27at the elegant, early Heladic source boats
07:30with their delicately curved spouts
07:32before proceeding to look at the austere Minian vases
07:36with their resemblance to metal vessels
07:38and the opaque decoration of the matte-painted vases
07:41which archaeologists ascribe to the Middle Helladic period
07:45and which are probably the artistic creations of the first Hellenic tribes.
07:52If variety is the hallmark of Greek civilisation,
07:56the different currents discernible in its earliest stages
08:00may be likened to rivulets gashing out of innumerable springs,
08:04flowing in different directions,
08:06converging and diverging
08:08until they finally unite into the largest stream
08:11in order to pour into and swirl the waters of the main river.
08:15While continental Greece continued to follow its own course,
08:19renovating the road initially opened by its Neolithic inhabitants,
08:23the Cyclades, scattered all over the central Aegean,
08:27rendered prosperous by their trade in a recently discovered metal,
08:32namely copper,
08:33entered the scene with a flourish in the 3rd millennium BC.
08:37Once again, we must recall the achievement of Christus Tsundas,
08:42who was the first archaeologist to uncover the present,
08:45in the late 19th century,
08:47the remarkable remains of the Cycladic civilisation.
08:50The atmosphere of the Cyclades is distinguished
08:54by the refractory light
08:56that emanates from the marble state of the soil.
08:59Crystalline in texture,
09:01lacking the hard quality of the stone
09:03which craftsmen elsewhere found so difficult to work,
09:07marble enabled Cycladic artists
09:09to exploit the possibilities of the material at hand
09:12with excellent results.
09:15Marble vases with daring and elegant forms
09:17reveal the artist's skill
09:19and the high standard of civilisation
09:22enriched by the people who made use of them.
09:25But the sphere in which Cycladic artists excelled themselves
09:30was in that of sculptured idols.
09:33Innumerable marble idols depict the figure of a nude woman
09:36with her hands placed across his stomach.
09:40Only the breasts and nose are plastically rendered.
09:43Other features, such as the mouth and eyes,
09:47were most probably painted.
09:50The little idols must have been immensely popular,
09:53for great quantities have been found
09:54not only in the Cyclades themselves,
09:57but in the more remote parts of continental and insular Greece.
10:01The significance of the idols in the context of the history of art
10:06might have been a limited one
10:08had the artists simply confined themselves
10:10to rendering this enigmatic female figure,
10:14Mother Earth,
10:14in the form of a small-scale object.
10:17But the more talented and inspired artists
10:20seem on occasion to have had the opportunity
10:23to create much larger idols
10:25distinguished for their admirable sculptural finish.
10:30The large, almost life-size idol from Amogos
10:33is a masterpiece of large sculpture.
10:37The sculptor seems to have been particularly daring
10:40in rendering the general form
10:42and, more important,
10:44in providing the plastic levels of the human body with animation.
10:48The clarity of the figure
10:49and the vibratory quality of the marble surfaces
10:52are likely to draw the attention of experts
10:55in modern abstract art.
10:58Henry Moore, greatest of modern sculptors,
11:01was intensely moved when he first saw it,
11:04lying as it then was in a case in the museum.
11:08Besides possessing both skill and sensitivity,
11:11Cycladic artists had acquired
11:13an intelligent conception of volumes.
11:16The remarkable idol of a harpist
11:18is an outstanding example.
11:20Notice the rhythmical intricacy of the modelling
11:24and the special function of the curve
11:26followed in the movement of the members of the body
11:28and of the harp itself.
11:31The architectural modelling
11:32lies with a delicate finish
11:35applied to the marble surface.
11:37It also confirms the fact
11:39that the simpler but no less charming
11:41and intelligent rendering of a flute player
11:44depicted in another idol
11:45was not purely fortuitous,
11:47but a happy combination of artistic sensibility,
11:50long experience and patient labour.
11:53A similar painstaking feeling for decoration
11:56is observed in the strange clay utensils
11:59shaped like frying pans,
12:01whose function remains an enigma
12:03and which were found lying in tombs beside the idols.
12:08The clay surface is incised with tangent spirals,
12:12star-shaped decorative designs
12:13and even representations of ships,
12:16all of which are executed
12:17with the accuracy and sensitivity
12:20associated with a true feeling
12:22for aesthetic expression
12:23and the existence of an evolved social structure.
12:28At one time,
12:29a number of archaeologists believed
12:31that the decline of Cycladic civilization
12:33had set in by the end of the 3rd millennium BC.
12:38More recent archaeological excavations, however,
12:41have brought to light important remains
12:43which indicate that the end of the millennium
12:45was not characterised so much by decline
12:48as by a complete transformation
12:50wrought by the expansion
12:52of the Minoan maritime empire
12:54of the new palace period.
12:56Fragments of frescoes and vase paintings
12:59excavated at Philacopi,
13:01on the island of Milos,
13:03do not merely stress the fact
13:04that the influence exercised
13:06by Minoan civilization
13:07undoubtedly prevailed
13:09throughout the eastern Mediterranean.
13:11They go much farther,
13:14enabling us to envisage
13:15a Cretan colonization
13:16and domination of the Aegean islands,
13:19especially of the most southerly ones.
13:22This argument could not have been
13:24so effectively supported
13:25but for the recent excavations at Caer
13:28and above all the astonishing discoveries
13:31made by Professor Marinatos at Thira.
13:34The Thira exhibits,
13:36now displayed in the halls
13:38of the National Archaeological Museum,
13:40consist among other objects of frescoes
13:42which are among the most striking
13:44in the whole of Minoan painting.
13:47The circumstances in which Thira was destroyed
13:50by a tremendous volcanic eruption
13:52account for the fact that
13:53large sections of the frescoes
13:56have survived in such a good state
13:57of preservation.
14:00A systematic method of excavation
14:02has also contributed greatly
14:04to their undamaged condition
14:06and to the possibility
14:07of their admirable restoration.
14:09The first frescoes to be uncovered
14:11and restored revealed an art
14:13at once so lavish and so full of charm
14:16that they clearly seem to be the works
14:19of the most skilled and inspired painters
14:21of Minoan Crete.
14:23They also supplied evidence
14:25of the existence on the island of a city
14:27whose economic, social and cultural evolution
14:30bore comparison with those
14:32of the most important centers
14:34of Minoan civilization.
14:37Among the most remarkable features
14:39of the fresco of the spring
14:40are the harmonious deep-toned colors
14:43of the rocks
14:43and the delicacy of their slender leaf stalks
14:46of lilies
14:47which terminate
14:48in innumerable purple-petaled flowers
14:51like little tongues of flame
14:53of the utmost elegance
14:55and fragility of form.
14:58Swallows flutter among the flowers
15:00in a state of celestial intoxication.
15:03Sometimes in couples
15:04their bills half open
15:06as they pursue their erotic games
15:09in the perfumed air.
15:11It is like a paean to nature
15:14a hymn of joy and hope
15:16A fresco of this kind
15:18could only have been conceived
15:19in a society
15:20which, knowing the meaning
15:22of true felicity
15:23dwelt under an azure sky
15:26on the wave-lashed island
15:27of Santarine
15:28queen of the earth's vibrations
15:31and of the flutter of Aegean wings
15:33as the poet Odysseus Elites says.
15:39The lyrical quality of this fresco
15:41borders on the unique
15:43but for sheer sensibility
15:45gaiety and lightness of touch
15:47reflecting a love and knowledge
15:49of everyday life
15:50the fresco of the books and children
15:52is even more impressive.
15:55It portrays two children
15:56with exquisite eyes
15:57and long wavy locks.
16:00Their expressions
16:01possess a disarming seriousness.
16:04Wearing nothing but a loincloth
16:06their limbs burned by the sun
16:08they stand erect
16:10with clenched fists
16:11and an air of anticipation
16:13that suggests
16:14they are about to deal
16:15the first blows
16:17of a harsh sport
16:18which is transformed here
16:19into the noblest
16:20and most innocent of games.
16:23Beside the fresco
16:24of the boxing children
16:25is that of a nude fisherman
16:27which provides further proof
16:29of the high standard
16:30of artistic ability
16:31of the Minoan painters
16:32of Thera.
16:34A typical Aegean figure
16:36at once familiar
16:37lively and warm-hearted
16:39he holds his catch of fish
16:41in both hands
16:42in a relaxed yet
16:43purposeful attitude.
16:46There are also depictions
16:48of nimble antelopes
16:49rendered with a well-judged simplicity
16:52and accurately calculated contours
16:54and fragments of other figures
16:56such as those of the blue monkeys.
16:59It would appear
17:00that we now have
17:01a fairly complete picture
17:02of Minoan painting
17:03in Thera
17:04but no
17:05the picture would not
17:06be absolutely complete.
17:08It would not do full justice
17:10to the accomplishments
17:11and capabilities
17:12of these painters
17:12had not the fresco
17:14of the ships
17:15been uncovered
17:16and restored.
17:17This astonishing work
17:19was discovered
17:20in the West House
17:21one of whose walls
17:23was decorated
17:24with the fresco
17:25of the fishermen.
17:26It consists
17:27of an oblong frieze
17:29six meters
17:30are preserved
17:31lengthwise
17:31in which
17:33a series of crowded
17:34historical events
17:35are depicted
17:36in miniature painting.
17:38The archaeologists
17:39who uncovered it
17:40believed
17:41that the scene
17:42represents the events
17:44of a naval campaign
17:45rendered in a sequence
17:47not unlike that
17:48of a film
17:48unfolding on a cinema screen.
17:51A fleet
17:52of seven warships
17:53accompanied by
17:54smaller vessels
17:55approaches a well-built
17:57maritime city
17:58crowded with human figures.
18:00Two more cities
18:01are represented
18:02in other parts
18:03of the fresco.
18:05In yet another
18:05a naval battle
18:06is depicted.
18:07The figures
18:08of the drowning soldiers
18:09are masterpieces
18:11of draftsmanship
18:12and invention.
18:14This fresco
18:14cannot be considered
18:15as just another
18:16masterpiece
18:17of Minoan painting.
18:19It carries
18:19a more important message
18:21revealing
18:22a new aspect
18:23of Minoan art
18:24which permits us
18:25to form
18:26a true picture
18:27both in the artistic
18:28and historical contexts
18:30of the actual width
18:32of range
18:32of Minoan art.
18:34At approximately
18:45the same period
18:46that is to say
18:47in the 16th century BC
18:49the first powerful
18:50dynasties
18:51were establishing
18:52their authority
18:52over the great citadels
18:54of mainland Greece.
18:55First
18:56and most important
18:57of all
18:57was Mycenae
18:58which acquired
19:00an even greater glory
19:01in the ancient world
19:02than Athens itself.
19:03The opening
19:04Mycenaean chapter
19:05begins with a flourish
19:07for its kings
19:08founded a dynasty
19:09whose legendary
19:10celebrity
19:11not only outlived
19:12antiquity
19:13but remains alive
19:14to this day.
19:16When Agamemnon
19:17the most famous
19:18descendant
19:19of these kings
19:19decided to wage
19:21a campaign
19:21against Troy
19:22he united
19:23the whole Greek world
19:24a world known
19:26as Mycenaean
19:27because of the fame
19:28of Agamemnon's capital.
19:30It remained for Homer
19:31to immortalize
19:32this war
19:32in world literature
19:34as none other
19:35ever has been
19:36either before
19:37or after.
19:38The memory
19:39of the legendary city
19:40Homer's
19:41rich in gold
19:42Mycenae
19:43remained alive
19:45in the imagination
19:45of the ancient Greeks
19:46just as the memory
19:48of Constantinople
19:49survived in the dreams
19:50of later generations
19:51of Greeks.
19:52In 1876
19:54when Heinrich Schliemann
19:56excavated the loyal
19:57shaft graves
19:58of Mycenaean
19:59and found them filled
20:00with priceless treasures
20:02he laid the foundations
20:03of Mycenaean archaeology.
20:05The introductory chapter
20:07in the history
20:07of the first Greeks
20:08who came here
20:09in the beginning
20:09of the second millennium B.C.
20:11was thus opened.
20:13The precious objects
20:15discovered in the graves
20:16were removed
20:17to the National
20:17Archaeological Museum
20:19to form the first
20:20Mycenaean collection
20:21which is being
20:22constantly enriched
20:24by new finds.
20:26The large
20:26well-lit hall
20:27facing the monumental
20:28entrance
20:29contains crowded
20:30groups of objects
20:31characteristic
20:32of a civilization
20:33which possessed
20:34an almost embarrassingly
20:36exaggerated feeling
20:37for power
20:38and wealth.
20:40The showcases
20:40are filled with objects
20:42wrought in gold
20:43and ivory.
20:44The clay vases
20:45large and of
20:47infinite variety
20:48do not detract
20:49from the prevailing
20:50sense of unity.
20:52Both the materials
20:53employed
20:53and the forms
20:54given to these
20:55works of art
20:56would appear strange
20:57to a Greek
20:58of the classical age.
21:00From the outset
21:01it is clear
21:01that all these
21:02valuable objects
21:03vases, weapons,
21:04architectural fragments
21:05and works
21:06of the minor arts
21:07are the expression
21:08of an attitude
21:09towards life
21:10that differs wholly
21:12from that
21:12of the Greeks
21:13of the historical era.
21:16Their chief characteristic
21:17one might say
21:18is
21:19elan vital.
21:21The vegetation
21:22is pliant.
21:24Flowing lines
21:24characterize the plants.
21:26Nature is wild
21:27and untamed
21:28populated by felines.
21:31The forces of nature
21:32are presented
21:32in their most
21:33elemental
21:34ungovernable form.
21:36The bull,
21:37the octopus,
21:38the lion
21:38and its hunters,
21:40the trees
21:40thick with leafy branches
21:42and the slender plants
21:43with flowers
21:44all combine
21:45to present
21:46an image
21:46of an elegiac existence
21:47in which man,
21:49rejoicing in his freedom,
21:51moves impulsively
21:52and embraces the world
21:53with uncontrollable vitality.
21:56There can be no doubt
21:57that the art
21:58of Minoan Crete
21:59exercised
22:00an enormous influence
22:01on the creative forms
22:02of expression
22:03of the Mycenaeans.
22:04But the inner core
22:06of the Mycenaean world
22:07is a wholly indigenous one.
22:10Compared with the Minoans,
22:12the Mycenaeans emerge
22:13as a more robust people,
22:15possessed of a more
22:16dynamic vision.
22:18They delight
22:19in the creation
22:20of more vigorous,
22:21sturdier forms.
22:23It is the harsh reality
22:25of ceaseless struggle,
22:27not the joys
22:28of pleasurable dalliance
22:29that motivate
22:30the impulsive actions
22:32of these figures.
22:33Among all these
22:34forceful,
22:35shifting shapes,
22:36it is not impossible
22:37to discern
22:38a firmer structure
22:39destined to develop
22:41and, with the passage
22:42of time,
22:43lead to the more
22:44rational rhythm
22:45and architectural
22:46composition
22:47of Greek form.
22:49Schliemann,
22:49who possessed
22:50a boundless imagination,
22:52was always
22:52an inveterate enthusiast.
22:55He believed
22:55the gold mask
22:56found in the fifth grave
22:58of the inner grave circle
22:59of the Mycenaean Acropolis
23:00to have been that
23:02of Agamemnon
23:02and to have somehow
23:04reproduced the actual
23:05facial features
23:06of the mythical king.
23:08But neither this mask
23:10nor the other four
23:11that have survived
23:12are likely to be
23:13faithful reproductions
23:14of the actual faces
23:16they once covered.
23:18It is even less likely
23:19that they can be identified
23:21with specific individuals.
23:23But the pale sheen
23:25of gold
23:25and the different features
23:27rendered on each
23:28of the masks
23:29conjures up a vision
23:30of the chill hand
23:32of death
23:33that has lain so long
23:35on the faces
23:35of the ancient rulers
23:36of Mycenae.
23:37Emptiness
23:38below the buried
23:40gold mask
23:41as George Seferes says.
23:44All around the masks
23:45lay the gold chest ornaments,
23:48the gold diadems,
23:49the heavy costly swords
23:51and finely wrought
23:52daggers
23:52with inlaid decoration
23:54and lavish handles
23:55as well as
23:56all kinds of vases
23:57executed in gold
23:58and silver.
24:00Although this impressive
24:01but never barbaric
24:03display of wealth,
24:04these costly raw materials
24:05moulded into forms
24:07and shapes
24:08with matchless technical skill
24:10and genuine artistic inspiration
24:11combine to provide
24:13a picture of a strong,
24:15thoroughly disciplined
24:16military organisation,
24:18the feeling
24:18for cultural development,
24:20the love of art
24:21and beauty
24:21for its own sake
24:23is never absent.
24:25Every object
24:26may be worthy of note
24:27but particular attention
24:29should be paid
24:29to certain works
24:30of the minor arts
24:31of the early Mycenaean period.
24:34First, the rytone,
24:35libation vessel,
24:37in the shape
24:37of a bull's head,
24:39fashioned out of silver
24:40with horns of gold
24:41and a gold rosette
24:42on the forehead.
24:43An impression
24:44of the awesome
24:45but sacred animal's nature
24:46is successfully conveyed
24:48by the carefully
24:49calculated volumes.
24:50Another rytone,
24:52in the shape
24:52of a lion's head,
24:53made of gold,
24:55forms a striking counterpart
24:56to the bull's head.
24:58But the disposition
24:58of the volumes
24:59in this example
25:00is more austere
25:01and geometrical.
25:03There is a different feeling,
25:05more tectonic,
25:06one might almost say,
25:07more native,
25:08more Greek,
25:09which is particularly evident
25:10in the sharply defined edge
25:13of the surfaces
25:14and in the rendering
25:15of details.
25:16The finest works
25:17of Mycenaean art,
25:19wrought in embossed gold,
25:20were not found
25:21in the loyal shaft graves
25:23of Mycenae
25:23but in a Tholo's tomb
25:25near ancient Amiklae.
25:27These superb objects
25:29are the two so-called
25:30Wafio cups
25:31dated to the late 16th
25:33or early 15th century BC.
25:36A turbulent scene
25:37of the capture of a bull
25:38in a net
25:39is depicted on one cup.
25:41On the other,
25:42we have a serene picture
25:43of shepherds
25:45accompanied by their cattle.
25:47These two works
25:48are unique
25:48not only because
25:50of their creator's
25:50technical skill.
25:52The sensitivity
25:53of his approach
25:54to his theme
25:54combined with
25:55the admirable composition
25:56the power of expression
25:58and well-calculated
25:59filling up
26:00of the spaces
26:00raise his work
26:01to the highest level
26:03of artistic achievement.
26:05It is not hyperbole
26:06to say that
26:07the impression
26:08made by the Wafio cups
26:10is indeed
26:11an indelible one.
26:13Among the wealth
26:14of objects
26:14discovered
26:15in the loyal shaft graves,
26:17the funerary stelae
26:19occupy a special place
26:20because they are
26:21the earliest specimens
26:22of large-scale
26:24Greek sculpture
26:25and relief.
26:26They consequently
26:27play an extremely
26:28important role
26:29in the history
26:30not only of Mycenaean
26:31but of the whole
26:32of Greek art.
26:35The representations
26:36of chariots
26:37and beasts
26:37are well judged
26:38but the execution
26:40is inferior
26:40to that of contemporary
26:42works of the minor arts.
26:44The geometric decoration
26:45which consists
26:46of spirals, however,
26:47is composed
26:48and incised
26:49with such an assurance
26:50and feeling
26:51for decorative embellishment
26:52that the stelae
26:54may unreservedly
26:55be classed
26:56as works
26:56of high quality.
26:58More important,
26:59they are creations
27:00of manifestly
27:01Mycenaean origin
27:02firmly rooted
27:04in indigenous elements
27:05which survived
27:06in the midst
27:07of an attractive world
27:08of Minoan influences
27:09only to blossom forth
27:11in their pure form
27:12in the historical era
27:14well after the final
27:15dissolution
27:16of the Mycenaean world.
27:18Works of art
27:19wholly representative
27:20of that Mycenaean world
27:21which dominated Greece
27:22for more than 400 years
27:24are not only found
27:26in the astonishing yield
27:27of the loyal shaft graves.
27:30Specimens of frescoes
27:31with strong
27:31Minoan influences
27:32have been uncovered
27:34in a very fragmentary condition
27:35in the Mycenaean palaces
27:37of the last phase
27:38of the period.
27:40In 1970,
27:41Professor Milonas
27:42discovered and restored
27:44part of a fresco
27:45showing a female figure
27:47which he called
27:48the Mycenaean woman.
27:50The facial features
27:51together with the artistic expression
27:53with its strong
27:54Mycenaean character
27:55its bold
27:56and revolutionary originality
27:58distinguish this attractive lady
28:00from the numerous female figures
28:02of the Minoan frescoes.
28:04Unlike the Minoan figures
28:05the Mycenaean woman
28:07is no longer depicted
28:08in profile.
28:09The figure stands frontally
28:12in an attitude
28:13of exquisite nobility.
28:15Only the head
28:16is turned sideways
28:17enabling the onlooker
28:19to obtain a view
28:20of the delicate profile.
28:22The arms are animated
28:23by harmonious movements.
28:26A third dimension
28:26is thus created
28:27for the first time
28:28in Greek art
28:29and the feeling for space
28:31is admirably rendered.
28:33The ivory objects
28:34of the minor arts
28:35discovered both
28:36at Mycenae
28:37and in other parts
28:38of the country
28:38should also be ascribed
28:40to the last face
28:41of Mycenaean civilization.
28:44Among these
28:44a group depicting
28:45a small childlike figure
28:47between two larger
28:48female ones
28:49is worth noting.
28:51It has been suggested
28:52that it may be
28:53a representation
28:54of Demeter
28:55Persephone
28:56and Iacos.
28:57The idea
28:58is certainly
28:59an attractive one
29:00but can it be proved?
29:02It is equally impossible
29:04to interpret
29:05the mysterious
29:05sculptured limestone head
29:07with deep blue eyes
29:08eyebrows and hair
29:09red lips
29:10and three dots
29:11on the cheeks and chin.
29:13Is it a depiction
29:14of a sphinx
29:15or the representation
29:16of some great goddess
29:18sculptured
29:19for the first time
29:20on such a large scale
29:21in the Hellenic world?
29:23Identity apart
29:24the head may nevertheless
29:25be considered
29:26to be the distance
29:27precursor
29:28of the Greek sculptures
29:29of the historical period.
29:32Particular attention
29:33should be paid
29:33to the unique
29:34warrior vase
29:35which is also
29:36a forerunner
29:37of things to come.
29:39Entirely foreign
29:40to the Minoan
29:41vase painting tradition
29:42which was assimilated
29:43into Mycenaean art
29:44this superb crater
29:46has the quality
29:47of a symbolic representation
29:49of all the various elements
29:51of which the Mycenaean empire
29:52was composed.
29:54Heavily armed hopelites
29:55complete with
29:57cuiruses,
29:58greaves,
29:59helmets,
29:59shields and spears
30:01march solemnly
30:02in single fire.
30:04At the end
30:05of the procession
30:06a woman raises her hand
30:07in a gesture of farewell.
30:10It is as though
30:10the artist
30:11had caught
30:12the very essence
30:12of the moment
30:13when the
30:14bronze-clad Achaeans
30:16set out from home
30:17to engage the enemy
30:19in one of their
30:20famous campaigns.
30:21only after many centuries
30:23shall we again
30:24see such a well-knit
30:25composition,
30:27such well-designed,
30:28well-set-up figures
30:29in Greek vase painting.
30:31The vision of this
30:32procession
30:33of marching men,
30:34contemporaries
30:35of the first
30:36great catastrophe
30:37that befell
30:38the Mycenaean world
30:39in around 1200 BC,
30:41haunts the imagination.
30:44The warriors themselves
30:45were destined to perish
30:46in the ruins of Mycenae.
30:48It remained only
30:49for the great rhapsodist
30:51of the geometric period,
30:52for Homer himself,
30:54to restore them to life
30:56in his immortal epic.
31:16The
31:36voice of
31:37the
31:38From
31:39to
31:40to
31:40to
31:41to
31:43to
31:43to
31:44to
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