This is a list of

Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands, whose earliest beginnings were from 3500BC, with the complex urban civilization beginning around 2000BC, and then declining from 1450B ...

, Mycenaean, and related

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

s and quasi-frescos (not completed before the plaster dried) found at

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

archaeological sites on islands and in and around the shores of the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...

and other relevant places in the

Eastern Mediterranean Eastern Mediterranean is a loose definition of the eastern approximate half, or third, of the Mediterranean Sea, often defined as the countries around the Levantine Sea. It typically embraces all of that sea's coastal zones, referring to communi ...

region. In cases where one civilization encroaches on another or a mixture of civilizations is present, both names are used. Though culturally rather different, the

Wall Paintings of Thera The wall paintings of ancient Thera are famous frescoes discovered by Spyridon Marinatos at the excavations of Akrotiri (prehistoric city) on the Greek island of Santorini (or Thera). They are regarded as part of Minoan art, although the culture ...

are regarded as part of

Minoan art Minoan art is the art produced by the Bronze Age Aegean Minoan civilization from about 3000 to 1100 BC, though the most extensive and finest survivals come from approximately 2300 to 1400 BC. It forms part of the wider grouping of Aegean art, ...

; all types form part of the wider grouping of

Aegean art Aegean art (2800–1100 BC) is art that was created in the lands surrounding, and the islands within, the Aegean Sea during the Bronze Age, that is, until the 11th century BC, before Ancient Greek art. Because is it mostly found in the territory of ...

. These frescos were primarily

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

s, few of which survived on their walls. Rather, the majority of frescos were reconstructed from flakes of fallen plaster and stucco, especially in those from

Knossos Knossos (also Cnossos, both pronounced ; grc, Κνωσός, Knōsós, ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and has been called Europe's oldest city. Settled as early as the Neolithic period, the na ...

and other sites in

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

. Fortunately those from Akrotiri have survived in more complete form. They are often not the originals, but are either facsimiles of originals, or reconstructions including the original fragments, often as little as 5% of the total area, with the rest added in modern times. Careful examination of the photos usually shows which areas are original. Often considerable artistic license has been exercised in the reconstruction. More than one reconstruction may exist, and more than one name have been assigned. The medium in all cases is plaster for interior walls, stucco for exterior walls. Often exterior frescos were in relief. Frescos can never be dated more precisely than the period in which they were painted. No names of painters have survived from the Bronze Age. Due to the necessity for extensive restoration, individual styles are typically not discernible, except those of the restorers; however, some scholars have assigned a school or painter name to a name fresco. These are not generally accepted.

List

External links

* {{cite web, title=Cretan Fresco Dates , year=2006 , author=pmnae , publisher=The Thera Foundation , url=http://www.therafoundation.org/articles/art/cretanfrescodates , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110914222544/http://www.therafoundation.org/articles/art/cretanfrescodates , archivedate=2011-09-14 Lists of paintings Minoan frescos Mycenaean Greece

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Further reading

External links