The Minoan Art

Cretan civilization is by far the richest and most strange in the Aegean world. What distinguishes this civilization from classical Greece is the lack of continuity that seems to have deeper causes than a mere archaeological accident.

In the face of the best achievements of Cretan art, we try in vain to glimpse a progression. It appears and disappears so suddenly that its fate must have been determined by outside forces, violent sudden changes affecting the entire island that we know little or nothing about.

After the catastrophe that swept through the ancient palaces and a century of slow recovery there was an explosion of wealth and creative energy.

In the time of the ancient palaces between 2000-1700 BC Crete developed a kind of ceramics celebrated for its technical preference and dynamic spiral motifs, but nothing predicted the naturalistic murals of the new palaces.

Unfortunately only fragments of these fresh and rare compositions escaped intact.

Much represents scenes from nature birds and other animals among lush vegetation or sea life.