Minoan and Mycenaean Art and Iconography - AKA500131

• Title: Minoan and Mycenaean Art and Iconography
• Guaranteed by: Institute for Classical Archeology (21-UKAR)
• Faculty: Faculty of Arts
• Actual: from 2023
• Semester: winter
• Points: 0
• E-Credits: 5
• Examination process: winter s.:
• Hours per week, examination: winter s.:2/0, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: unknown / unknown (30)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: not taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: Mgr. Monika Matoušková

Annotation

Last update: Mgr. Petra Tušlová, Ph.D. (11.07.2022)

Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece belong to cultures with the most sophisticated art of the Bronze Age. As
such it is the oldest highly evolved art in Europe. In its complexity it is comparable to art of ancient Egypt or the
Near East. The aim of this course is to provide a thorough overview of the Bronze Age Aegean art and
iconography. The first part of the course focusses on particularities of specific artistic media like frescoes, ivory,
faience, and glyptic. The second part is dedicated to the context in which the pieces of art were discovered, but also
to the discussion of foreign influences and to the application of some basic iconographic methods. Lessons will be
presented with emphasis on diachronic changes in iconography which might be either specific to certain material
or common to all the discussed media. In the end students should deepen their knowledge of the overall
development of Aegean art. The course is suitable for archaeologists, art historians, as well as for anyone with
interest in ancient cultures.

Literature

Last update: Mgr. Petra Tušlová, Ph.D. (11.07.2022)

Bietak, M. - Marinatos, N. - Paliviou, C. 2007: Taureador scenes in Tell el Daba’a (Avaris) and Knossos. Vienna.

Betancourt, P.P. 1985: The History of Minoan Pottery. New Jersey.

Cameron, M. A. S. 1976: A general study of Minoan frescoes with particular reference to unpublished wall painting from Knossos. Newcastle.

Crowley, J.L. 1989: The Aegean and the East. An Investigation into the Transference of Artistic Motifs between the Aegean, Egypt and the Near East in the Bronze Age. Jonsered.

Crowley, J.L. 2013: The Iconography of Aegean Seals. Aegaeum 34. Leuven-Liege.

Foster, K. P. 1979: Aegean Faience of the Bronze Age. New Haven.

Immerwahr, S.A. 1990: Aegean Painting in the Bronze Age. University Park, PA.

Jones, R.E. 2005: Technical Studies of Aegean Bronze Age Wall Painting: Methods, Results and Future Prospects. British School at Athens Studies 13. Aegean Wall Painting: A Tribute to Mark Cameron, 199-228.

Koehl, R.B. 2006: Aegean Bronze Age Rhyta. Philadelphia.

Krzyskowska, O. - Morkot, R. 2000: Ivory and Related Materials. In: Nicholson, P.T. - Shaw, I. (eds.): Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology. Cambridge, 320-331.

Logue, W. 2004: Set in Stone: The Role of Relief-Carved Stone Vessels in Neopalatial Minoan Elite Propaganda. The Annual of the British School at Athens 99, 149-172.

Mountjoy, P.A. 1999: Regional Mycenaean Decorated Pottery. Leidorf.

Syllabus

Last update: Mgr. Petra Tušlová, Ph.D. (11.07.2022)

1. Introduction to Aegean art

2. Minoan frescoes

3. Mycenaean frescoes

4. Aegean engraved vessels and rhyta

5. Aegean seals and sealings

6. Aegean ivory

7. Aegean faience and glass

8. Aegean idols and figurines

9. Decoration of Aegean pottery

10. The Charging bull of Knossos and the Lion Gate of Mycenae

11. Foreign influence and Aegean art in abroad

12. Iconographic methods - Case study: Symbols of Aegean art

13. Chronological overview of Aegean art and iconography