a minoan fresco from katsamba

8/6/2019 A Minoan Fresco From Katsamba

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A M inoan Fresco from Katsam baMARIA C. SHAW

AbstractA small Minoan fresco fragment, found someyears ago in a MMIII-LMI house at Katsamba, theharbor town of Knossos, implies, by the design pre-served on it, that large scale figurative representa-tions occurred in mural decorations of that site.More specifically, the design preserved, partiallyrendered in miniature style, seems to depict em-broidered and/or textile patterns and thus is pos-sibly a decoration upon the dress of a female figureof the general type and scale of the "Ladies in Blue"fresco from the palace of Knossos and of analogouscompositions from elsewhere in Crete or the Cycla-des.In 1955, during his excavations at Katsamba, the

harbor town of Knossos, Ephor S. Alexiou foundthree minute fragments of painted stucco in a Mi-noan building, dated by its pottery to the MMIII-LMI period.' The fragments joined to form nolarger a piece than that illustrated in Fig. 1, meas-uring a maximum of 12.8 ern, in length, by a maxi-mum of 8.1 em. in height. The painted representa-tion had been rendered in Miniature style, a typeof wallpainting prevalent in the Knossos area dur-ing the MMIII-LMI period." Because of the minute-ness of scale, even small fragments from such paint-ings often provide enough pictorial information forone to define the particular motifs preserved on1The building was only partially excavated, for it lies largely

under modern houses. Its construction and use were originallyattributed to the MMIII-LMIA period, with its destruction beingassigned more recently to the LMIB period. Compare S. Alexiouin Praktika 19S5, 314-18 with S. Alexiou, YsterominoihoiTaphoi Limenos Knosou (Katsamba) (Athens 1967) 2. Thespecific location is at Anemomylia, where in 1922 Evans hadconducted some digging with the hope of locating the sourceof sealings of MMIII date, reportedly found there; PM II, 2S5and Praktika 19S5, 318.2M.C. Shaw, "The Miniature Frescoes of Tylissos Recon-

sidered," AA 1972, 171, n. 1 gives references to miniaturepaintings from Knossos and vicinity. We must now add therecently discovered miniature fresco from the LMIA site ofAkrotiri, at Thera, S. Marinatos, Excavations at Thera J(Athens 1968), II (1969), III (1970), IV (1971), V (1972),VI (1973); hereafter cited as Thera I etc.: Thera VI, 38-44and Col. Pis. 7-9. The date of the miniature style in wallpaint-ings in Crete is discussed in PM III, 31-37.3 I am grateful to Dr. S. Alexiou for permission to study,

photograph and trace this fragment, work done in the summerof 1973 during research related to a larger project on certain

them and, sometimes, to form an idea about thelarger compositions from which they came. Thesmall Katsamba piece allows a few such com-merits."Ill. 1, based on a direct tracing from the frag-

ment by the author, varies slightly from one pub-lished earlier." The most readily recognizable fea-ture is a frieze of birds, ca. 3.2 cm. high, borderedat the bottom by a black band 1.1 cm. high, andpossibly by another black band at the top." Thearea below the lower band is badly worn, but itsdesign is partially recognizable as will be seen later.A brief description of the painting technique"

and state of preservation is prerequisite to anyattempt at an interpretation of the theme. Theplaster backing, 1.8 cm. thick, is very hard, mediumgrained, off-white to grey in color and rather flatat the back, the last suggesting that it was appliedon a smooth, even wall surface. The pigmentswere applied after a fine slip of white plaster, ca.1 mm. thick, was added on the plaster surface.Next the general background colors were paintedon: a vivid bright blue for the sky in the birdfrieze, and possibly red for the lower half of thefragment, the surface here being too worn to becertain.' The next phase was to render the motifs(birds, the rock work below them, and other ele-Knossian frescoes. The latter research was supported by a grantmade by the Canada Council (Grant S73-0386) and under-taken jointly with Dr. M.A.S. Cameron. Fig. 1 is from a colorslide, courtesy of Dr. Cameron who photographed the frag-ment. I would also like to express here my appreciation tomy husband, as well as to Professor J.W. Graham and Dr.Cameron, for reading the article and making helpful com-ments.

4 The earlier drawing, made by the artist T. Phanourakis, isreproduced in a somewhat reduced scale in Praktika (19SS),318, Fig. 2. See also W.S. Smith, Interconnections in the An-cient Near East (New Haven 1965; hereafter cited as Smith,Interconnections) Fig. III.5 The blue ground of the frieze terminates above in a straight

line with traces of black paint above it. Black paint paintedonto the blue occurs clearly in the bottom band. Apparentlythe blue was applied here first, serving as a general backgroundagainst which the birds were painted and also as a ground forother decorative motifs.

6 For techniques specifically related to painting done in theminiature style see Shaw (supra n. 2), 182-83.7 Infra n. 1S, and below in the text.


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28 MARIA C. SHAW [AJA 82

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FIG. I.Photograph of the Katsamba fresco fragment, slightly larger than actual scale.

ments in the lower area) in silhouette fashion inrather thickly applied white paint. It appears thatthe blue pigment may have been allowed to dryfirst for where the thick white paint has flakedoff the blue is often intact underneath. The evi-dence is not clear, however, for in some placesthe blue surface is slightly depressed where thewhite has flaked off, which implies that the surfacewas still damp when the white pigment was added.Black and yellow were the other two colors used

for the frieze. Black was used for the band/s bor-dering the frieze, and also for partial outlining,appearing as a very fine line along the contours ofthe birds and as a somewhat thicker edging forthe rockwork. It also served to depict details ofthe feathers, some of the veining of the rock work,and the reed-like plants. The extent to which yel-low was used is not clear, because of the poorpreservation of the white paint on which yellowwas applied. There are clear traces of yellow, how-ever, on the head and neck of the bird to the rightand on the wing of that on the left. Yellow also

appears in the form of veining on the rockwork.A straight-edge was clearly used to help the artistdraw the lines of the band/s, but, otherwise, thepainting was executed free-hand. In the few spotswhere the uppermost painted surface is preserved,there is some indication of polishing.The interpretation of the bird frieze will con-

cern us first. Visible are parts of two birds, both fac-ing left and placed in two low areas of the terrain,on either side of a prominence marked by a num-ber of rounded heights with reed-like plants risingfrom some. Both birds which appear in front ofsome of these plants are disproportionately largefor the landscape within which they are fitted.Though very fragmentary, the birds, when closelyexamined, seem to have the same shape, postureand size. Rhythm and repetition of forms imparta decorative quality to the composition, but thereis also a surprising degree of realism evident in themeticulous articulation of detail, especially impres-sive at this small scale. Interesting in this respect isa seemingly unorthodox feature, namely the ap-


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1978] A MINOAN FRESCO FROM KATSAMBA 29

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ILL. I.Drawing of the Katsamba fresco fragment (M.C. Shaw)

parent indication of both eyes of the bird on theright. The upper black dot could be residual paintfrom the black outline of the upper part of thehead, but, although they are rare, frontal views ofanimals nevertheless appear in art of this period."Despite the degree of detail once in the original,

the identification of the specific species of the birdsand their particular posture cannot, because of poorpreservation, be definitely ascertained. The form ofthe birds is traceable on the basis of the black out-lines, remnants of white color with black andyellow brushwork on it, and finally by the shapeof shallow depressions left in the blue surface,where the thick white paint in which they had8One such example is the frontal view of the head of one

of the agrimia sitting on the roof of the shrine on the LMISanctuary Rhyton from the Palace of Kato Zakros. Similar ex-perimentation can be seen in an inlaid dagger from a shaftgrave at Mycenae, S. Marinatos and M. Hirmer, Kreta, Theraund das Mykenische Hellas (Munich 1973) PI. 109, Col. PI.LI, top (note fish with both eyes showing) and Col. PI. L,top (note rear view of gazelle's head).9 M. Lang picturesquely refers to such motifs, recognizable

only by means of the indentation left on the plaster surfacewhen the basic pigment in which they were rendered wore off,as "ghosts," M. Lang, The Palace of Nestor, vol. II: TheFrescoes (Princeton 1969) 10. The term "ghost" has been

been rendered has flaked off." There seems, how-ever, to be little doubt that both birds are of thesame species. In addition to their comparable size,their foreparts are also similar in color and shape.The presence of yellow on heads and necks and acrest-like element over their heads is, presumably,what led to their identification by the excavator ashoopoes." Indeed, the basically white coloring ofthe body, the long black bill with bent end of theright bird and the barred white and black tail ofthe left bird closely conform to the color andgraphic conventions of the hoopoes of the Caravan-serai Frieze." The most unclear feature is thelarge globular lower body traceable in the left bird.analogously used in connection with Attic vase painting.

10The drawing by Phanourakis (supra n. 4) omits the whiteform over the head of the bird on the left. This correspondsto the better rendered crest of the bird on the right. It is pos-sible that this omission led Smith, who may not have seenthe actual fragment, to suggest that one bird is a hoopoe, theother a pheasant, Smith, Interconnections, 79.

11Parts of two hoopoes are preserved in the frieze from theCaravanserai. One is seen in the Frontispiece of PM II, partI, where its tail has been restored on the basis of the frag-ments preserved from the second hoopoe, the latter being il-lustrated in PM II, pt. I, II5, Fig. 52.


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30 MARIA C. SHAW [AJA 82This area, crucial both for identifying the speciesand for defining the particular action in which thebirds are engaged, is unfortunately badly preserved.Is the globular form the belly of the left bird, inwhich case its identification as a hoopoe, a ratherdaintily built bird, would become doubtful? Orwere there once linear details in this badly wornarea which set off the front from the rear wing ofa bird in flight, a posture admittedly not followinggeneral Minoan conventions for such actionr " Iam inclined to believe the latter, for a numberof reasons. Birds in flight, just like animals in a"flying gallop," lend themselves admirably to styl-ized decorative compositions, as the frieze hereseems to be, while, if a static pose is preferred,birds tend to be shown in more diversified, thoughstill conventional poses, as the Caravanserai Friezeclearly illustrates." A description based on firsthand observation of hoopoe birds in Tunisia, wherethey apparently migrate from Europe in earlyspring, is pertinent here, for, justifiably or not, itseems to reflect the very scene of birds on the Ka-tsamba fragment. The hoopoes are said to favor thewell-bushed hillsides and they "may often be seenflitting from bush to bush, their strongly markedplumage rendering them conspicuous.?"The minute size of the bird frieze (3.2 em. in

height, without the bandjs) together with the prom-inently decorative character of its composition, asanalyzed above, suggest that the frieze was sub-

12There seem to be three basic conventions used to depictbirds in flight in fresco and other representations: No. I: Bothwings are spread out on either side of the body, which is seenfrom below, but with the neck and head in profile; No.2: Onewing is up, the other hangs down below the body, now seenin profile; NO.3: Both wings rise up and overlap each other.Each convention can be illustrated as follows: For conventionNo. I: Birds from wallpaintings in the House of Frescoes, asrestored by Cameron, in BSA 63 (1968) 23, Fig. II, A andFig. 13, opp. 24; and a variant of that pose, in a swallowfrom a fresco at Akrotiri, Thera III, PI. B. For convention No.2: Bird on ivory pyxis from the Katsamba cemetery, the pyxisbeing dated by S. Alexiou to the LMIA period, YstcrominoikoiTaphoi (supra n. I) 55, 71-75, pis. 30-33. For convention No.3: A swallow from the Spring Fresco of Thera, Thera IV,PI. 121, top. All three conventions are used simultaneouslyin the inlaid decoration on both sides of a dagger from ShaftGrave V at Mycenae, PM III, PI. XX. The birds on the Katsarnbafragment come closest to convention No.2, provided we canassume that the badly worn area under the left bird could bea drooping wing.

13Animals in flying gallop are too familiar a motif in Aegeanart of this period to need illustration. Birds flying over rock-work, dolphins leaping over waves, gazelles galloping overhills, are themes repeatedly appearing on pottery from Akrotiri,

sidiary to a larger theme, such as the decoration ofa patterned costume. This impression is furthersupported by the identification of the design on theworn lower half of the fragment, to which wenow turn. The presence of a scale pattern, ren-dered in white dots, possibly on a red background,was first brought to my attention by M.A.S. Came-ron, who ingeniously suggested that the presentred dots may be spots of original backgroundsurviving because once protected by the white over-lay.15 Using this observation as a guide, we cantrace at least two practically complete adjacentscales and parts of more in the left area. From thebest preserved scale it seems that two dots, oneabove the other, marked each center. One minorproblem in the restoration relates to the few butdefinite traces of blue at the right upper sectionof this area (see ill. I), for surface patterns tendto be uniform in color. The objection could be ex-plained by the reasoning that the blue belongsto an item overlapping the costume, such as anapron, a trim, or an object held by or shown infront of the figure here presumably portrayed.The scale pattern appears in Minoan wall paint-

ing in connection with costumes as early as theMMIII period and continues into Mycenaeantimes." Scales are rendered sometimes in outline,sometimes by a series of dots, as in our fragment,and sometimes by a combination of both. Usually,each scale contains a small ornament at its base, inusually in a frieze arrangement, sometimes with two typesof animal shown in rapid movement covering front and backsides of the same pot. (Thera II, PI. C, 7, 8; Thera VI, Col.PI. II). For the Caravanserai Frieze see supra n. I!. Anotherstylized composition of static birds appears in a fresco friezefrom Kea, K. Coleman, "Frescoes from Ayia Irini, Keos. PartI," Hesperia 42 (1973) 286-88 and Fig. I, 287.14 }.l.S. Whittaker, The Birds of Tunisia (London 1905)

vol. II, 58.15Suggested to me in the summer of 1973. The dottedscales are also clearly indicated in Phanourakis' drawing (supran. 4).

16The earliest example in wallpainting seems to be on thestucco fragment found in a MMIII context at the west entranceof the palace of Knossos, PM II, 680, Fig. 430, c. For a My-cenaean example see one of the female processional figures fromthe palace of Tiryns, G. Rodenwaldt, "Die Fresken des Palastes,"Tiryns II (Athens 1912) 71, Fig. 27 and restoration in Col.PI. VIII. From a primarily ceramic point of view the Minoanuse of this motif is discussed in A. Furumark, Mycenaean Pot-tery. I. Analysis and Classification (Stockholm 1972, reprint)passim, especially 144. Its use as a textile pattern, particularlyfor male costume, is discussed in E. Sapouna-Sakellaraki, ToMinoikon Zoma (Athens 1971) 191-195, where further bib-liography is given.


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1978] A MINOAN FRESCO FROM KATSAMBA 31this case two dots and, in the more elaborate exam-ples, one of geometric or floral character. A squaredgrid of lightly impressed lines, normally used toinsure a regular repetition of the motifs, is here,surprisingly, absent." The size of each scale canonly be roughly determined, but it seems some-what larger than that on a fragment from Knossoswhich Evans attributed to part of a figure on thescale of the Ladies in Blue, who are slightly underlife-size." It is conceivable that our fragment be-longed to a figure of roughly such proportions.While the scale pattern, with its simple form

and repetitive reproduction, can be thought of asa woven pattern on the costume, the more irregu-lar and complex design of the bird frieze suggestsembroidery, painting or applique work. In thisregard, it is important to consider a group of frag-ments of miniature frescoes, found in the NorthWest Heaps of the Palace of Knossos, and inter-preted by Evans as simulating embroidery pat-terns." Affinities in scale, style, color and oftencomposition between them and the Katsamba birdfrieze further support the suggestion. In the Knos-sos fragments small motifs such as flutes (?), lilies,and fictitious animals appear mostly on blue back-grounds, either in repetitive fashion in a frieze, orpresumably in heraldic, arched compositions, tojudge from the fragmentary remains. The motifsare generally executed in white, like our birds androckwork, with details rendered mostly in linearfashion, in yellow, red and black, the latter simi-larly used for partial, delicate outlining. The em-broideries, if in a frieze arrangement, could havebeen executed on separate fabric bands, which17 Such grids are clearly visible in color photographs of

details of the kilts in the Processional Fresco (in E. Sapouna-Sakellaraki [supra n. 16] Col. PI. B, a-b) and in drawings ofseveral other earlier examples from Knossos (PM II, 680, Fig.430, c; PM I, 545, Fig. 397; also Archaeology 24 l971] 37)as well as from the figures in stucco relief from Pseira, (R.B.Seager, Excavations on the Island o] Pseira, Crete [Universityof Pennsylvania, The Museum: Anthropological Publications,III, No. I, 1910; hereafter cited as Seager, Pseira] PI. V).

18The example from Knossos referred to supra n. 16. Forthe Ladies in Blue see PM I, 546-51 and 545, Fig. 397.

19PM III, 37-42 in particular, where Evans discusses theirinterpretation as embroideries. For two more fragments fromthe same location, one with a band of lilies, the other with acrested animal, see PM III, 130, Fig. 85 and PM I, 549, Fig.400, respectively. Evans' interpretation of arched compositionson some of the above fragments also as embroideries has re-cently been questioned, in the light of a fresco from Pylos de-picting two antithetically arranged sphinxes, clearly shown onan architectural facade (Smith, Interconnections, 80 and Figs.

could then have been sewn as trim onto the cos-tume. The use of a figurative motif in the Katsa-mba example, instead of one of a geometric or ab-stract nature, would make it preferable for thefrieze to appear horizontally or, at most, in aslightly slanting direction. The scale pattern be-low the frieze excludes the possibility that theembroidered band here would have appeared astrim at the bottom of sleeves, skirt or kilt.I would like to make the suggestion that the

frieze may simulate an embroidered girdle or belt,below which the costume would display an over-all scale pattern. Although spirals and stylized ro-settes appear on the belts of male figures in theProcession Fresco from the Palace of Knossos, afreer kind of design, to my knowledge, does notoccur in connection with male costume." On theother hand, rather naturalistic floral motifs appearon one of the faience model girdles, and on twovotive robes, found with the Snake Goddess andVotaries, all in faience, in the Temple Reposi-toties." The Lady with Net in a painting fromPhylakopi has birds and rock work presumablyembroidered on her skirt," and it should also beremembered that Evans suggested that certain "em-broidery" designs on fragments from the NorthWest heaps of the palace, many with figurativemotifs, may belong to the robe of a goddess." Asfor belts specifically, H. Reusch distinguished threetypes used in the MMIII to LMII period: twocould be worn by both men and women, while athird, which she describes as often being richlyembroidered, was worn exclusively by women;"Finally, it should be noted that evidence for figura-115, a-c.) An interpretation of some of the above Knossiandesigns as architectural facades is not theoretically impossible,but because of their discovery with other fragments moreplausibly identifiable as depicting embroidery motifs (especiallythose in PM III, 38, Fig. 2I; 39, Fig. 23; 45, Fig. 27 and 130,Fig. 85) I am inclined to believe Evans's initial interpretation,until further evidence that such elaborate figurative decorationas that implied by the Pylos piece was actually used on build-ings of Minoan Crete. It should also be remembered that notinfrequently Minoan dress patterns seem to have an archi-tectonic origin (PM II, 729, Fig. 456 a and 731).20 For patterns on Minoan male costume see E. Sapouna-

Sakellaraki (supra n. 16) 153-95.21 PM I, 56-23, Fig. 364.22 PM III, 43, Fig. 26. 23 PM III, 42.24 H. Reusch, "Die zeichnerische Rekonstruktion des Frauen

Frieses in Bootischen Theben," Abh. der deutschen Akademieder Wissenschajten zu Berlin (1955, N. I) 1956, 53-57. Shorterdescriptions of belts and girdles in S. Marinatos, "Kleidung-Haar-und Barttracht," ArchHom (1967) AI2, A16, A28.


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32 MARIA C. SHAW [AJA 82tively ornamented belts is forthcoming from Thera,where during a short visit to the fresco storeroomI noted a painting of a female figure wearing abelt beautifully decorated with flying fish."The hypothetical lady wearing the belt seen on

the Katsamba fragment should be considered inthe context of other life-size and smaller represen-tations of women in frescoes and stucco reliefs ofthe MMIII to LMI period, interpreted variously asgoddesses or priestesses." It is impossible at thispoint to define her status, when so little is knownabout the character of the partially excavated build-ing on the walls of which she once appeared; but,if elaboration of design and her assumed size havea bearing to status, she must be granted some im-portance. It may be interesting in this connectionto note that the dotted rendition of the scales ofthe skirt is reminiscent of the dotted decoration onthe apron of the Snake Goddess. It may not bewithout significance that the stone figurine in theFitzwilliam Collection, so close to the faience ex-amples from the Temple Repositories, was re-portedly found in the Harbor Town of Knossos."It is tempting to see the painted lady and the Fitz-william statuette as possible manifestations of acult similar to that practiced at Knossos in theMMIII period also present in the city's harbortown.Evidence for textile patterns in Minoan frescoesgoes back to the MMIII period, to judge from

fragments clearly datable to that period, which pro-vided Evans with comparative evidence for a rela-tive dating of the Ladies in Blue." The Lady Hold-ing a Net in a painting from Phylakopi, althoughmuch smaller in scale, is attributable stratigraphi-cally to the same period, and, by inference fromall the above evidence, Evans also assigns frag-ments from the North West Heaps, discussed

25 This was in the summer of I973, when my husband andI, on a visit to Akrotiri, were kindly allowed by the lateSpyridon Marinatos to look at the recently discovered frescoesin the process of being cleaned and mended in the storeroomsof the excavation.

26PM III, 42. More recently Cameron suggests priestessesfor the type represented by the Ladies in Blue, "The Lady inRed," Archaeology 24 (I97I) 43.27 PM II, 235-37 and 236, Fig. I33. The figurine was fully

published in A.J.B. Wace, A Cretan Statuette in the Fitz-william Museum (Cambridge I927).28 PM II, 679-82 and PM I, 546-5I, include discussions of

these compositions and their relative dates, respectively. Seealso supra n. I6. Cameron recently expresses the opinion that

above, to the same date." That the vogue of suchcompositions may have continued into the LMIperiod is not unlikely. Recently Cameron publisheda fragment of a female figure, the "Lady in Red,"from the Palace of Knossos, whose style he con-siders a little later than that of the "Ladies in Blue,"closer to early LMIA than to the end of MMIII.30The ladies in stucco relief from Pseira, as wellas the women in a fresco from the Villa of HaghiaTriada, both stylistically dated by Evans to theend of the MMIII period, do not come from strati-graphically precise contexts."Evans considered the true miniature style as ex-

tinct by LMI, but, if minute scale and detailed,careful execution are salient features of this styleat its prime, there are indications that it flourishedfor a longer period. First we must remember thatthe incorporation of miniature designs in large-scale compositions depicting ladies makes the datesof these two styles to some degree correlative. Thelady with a belt decorated with flying fish in smallscale, in the unpublished painting from Theramentioned above, indicates that this associationcontinues into the LMIA period. Following theabove reasoning, the "embroidery" designs fromthe North West Heaps of the palace of Knossosdated by Evans stylistically to the MMIII periodcould also be a little later. The brilliant miniaturefresco with coastal towns and other landscapesfrom the West House at Akrotiri in Thera dis-plays great naturalistic and high artistic qualitieswhich could mean that it was made in the earlypart of the LMIA period." Similarly, in the Ka-tsamba fresco, the delicate drawing of the reeds, theconcern with which fine details have been indi-cated on the wings of the birds and the veiningof the rockwork suggest that the piece may notbe far off in date from the Theran fresco andthese two groups are by the same artists (supra n. 26).29 PM I, 547 and PM III, 37-42.30 Cameron (supra n. 6) 39.31 For Evans' dates for the reliefs from Pseira and the wall

paintings from Haghia Triada see PM III, 38, and PM I, 539, re-spectively. The stucco reliefs from Pseira were found with LMIpottery (Seager, Pseira, I5, 32-34 and PI. V). The villa atHaghia Triada, though built in the MMIII period was destroyedin LMIB (L. Pernier and L. Banti, Guida degli Scaoi Italianiin Creta [Rome 1947l 28-29). The women in the Haghia Triadafresco can be seen clearly in watercolour copies by Gillieron,reproduced in Smith, Interconnections, Figs. 106 and I 07.32 This fresco has the LMIA destruction of Akrotiri as its

ante quem point, Thera, VI, Col. PIs. 7-9.


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1978] A MINOAN FRESCO FROM KATSAMBA 3 3quite close to the miniature frescoes from Tylissosand the town of Knossos, an early LMIA datehaving been suggested recently by the present au-thor for those from Tylissos." Finally, stylisticallythe Katsamba fresco seems to antedate the minia-ture frescoes of Kea, though a more complete publi-cation of these is needed before a definitive state-ment can be made."So far the evidence seems to point to an early

phase of the LMIA period for the Katsamba frag-ment. Such a date seems further supported by anevaluation of the motifs here preserved as well astheir arrangement. I do not know whether one cantrace a typological development of the scale pat-tern, but the simplicity of that depicted may indi-cate an early stage. More significant is the role ofthe bird frieze. The exclusive portrayal of animalsin nature automatically brings to mind comparablescenes, for some the essence of Minoan art, glorifiedin wallpaintings, particularly of the MMIII toLMI period. Such themes are epitomized in thecompositions of the House of Frescoes, or, outsideCrete, in the Spring Fresco from Thera, to men-tion only two of the more complete examples."The Katsamba bird frieze, however, although dis-playing naturalism in its details, comes closer interms of format and decorative impact to anotherseries of paintings, some datable to the post-MMIIIperiod. The characteristic here is that birds, seenin a landscape, arranged in a frieze, become theexclusive theme. Foremost among these paintingsis the Partridge and Hoopoe Frieze, the landscapeof which, incidentally, was suggested by Evans to33 One can compare the delicate detail found here with the

bush or tree in the miniature fresco from Tylissos, AA 1972,173, Fig. 2 and 184, Fig. 13, no. 2, and 183-88, for a dis-cussion of its date. Cf. also the mouse and spikelets in a minia-ture composition, from the South East House at Knossos,attributed by Evans to the MMIII period PM I, 537, Fig. 390and 531.34 Lately K. Coleman suggested a LMIB date for the frescoes

from Kea, "Frescoes from Ayia Irini, Keos. Part I," Hesperia42 (1973) 286.35 For the wallpaintings from the House of Frescoes see:

PM II, 444-50 and M.A.S. Cameron, "Unpublished Paintingsfrom the 'House of Frescoes'" BSA 63 (1968) 1-31. The frescofrom Thera, an attractive but a less ambitious and less naturalis-tic work than the one from Knossos, is illustrated in TheraIV, Col. PIs. A-C.

36 PM II, part I, Frontispiece and p. 114. Evans states thatthe Partridge Frieze is "practically contemporary" with thepaintings from the House of Frescoes, i.e., of the MMIII-LMIAperiod. The stylized character of the landscape and of thecomposition, it could be argued, suggest a somewhat later datefor the Caravanserai painting. For a recent dating of the ma-

have been inspired from tapestries, to judge fromthe highly stylized forms and certain motifs in itwhich could derive from needlework." Anotherbird frieze was found at Kea and has recently beenpublished in a restoration where the birds appearin a landscape rendered in minimal detail. 37 Third-ly, the row of birds painted on the hull of one ofthe ships in the Miniature Frieze from the WestHouse at Thera should be remembered in this con-text." Of these examples the Caravanserai Friezebears the closest affinities to the Katsamba fresco.Both paintings display the same odd combinationof decorative and naturalistic features. Those ofthe Katsamba painting have already been described.In the Caravanserai Frieze the birds are renderedwith great naturalism but their groupings andpostures are dictated mainly, one feels, by a senseof compositional design. The landscape except forthe flora is highly stylized. Finally the appearanceof hoopoes in both friezes adds to the commonfeatures.The Theran example just mentioned is interest-

ing from another point of view. Since the birdsthere appear as decoration on the hull of a ship,it is clear that birds were depicted in media otherthan wallpainting. Indeed, birds and bird friezesseem to have enjoyed a certain popularity in theart of the Aegean, in the MMIII-LMIA period, tojudge also from examples in the minor arts andparticularly in vase painting, on pottery from theCyclades and the mainland, some also imported in-to Crete." Birds, however, do not seem to have cap-terial from the House of Frescoes, see Cameron (supra n.35) 26.37 Coleman (supra n. 34) 287, Fig. 1.38 Thera VI, Col. PI. 9, ship at bottom, left.39 Marinatos notes birds flying over waves in gold repousse

from Shaft Grave III at Mycenae and links this work withpottery with bird representations, which he attributes to theearly rfith century B.C., "Chelidonismata," AAA 2 (1969) 66.An example intriguingly close to the bird frieze of the Ka-tsamba painting is the inlaid decoration of a dagger, of the typeknown from the Shaft Graves at Mycenae, and now in a pri-vate collection, depicting hoopoes flying over rockwork, E.Vermeule, Greece in the Bronze Age (Chicago 1964) PI. XIII,D. For discussions of vases with bird representations from theCyclades and the mainland see PM I, 556-61 (557, Fig. 404.h showing an imported Cycladic vase from the Temple Reposi-tories of the Palace at Knossos); S. Marinatos, 65-66; G.Mylonas, "Vases with Bird Representations," AAA 2 (1969)210-12; G. Mylonas, "Vases with Bird Representations, II,"AAA 3 (1970) 89-91; J. L. Davis, "Polychrome Bird Jugs. ANote," AAA 10 (1976) 81-83.


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34 MARIA C. SHAW [AJA 82tured the imagination of the Minoan vase painterswho relied either on abstract, floral and, more rare-ly, marine patterns for the decoration of theirvases of the LMI period. On the other hand, it ispossible that Minoan embroiderers and manufac-turers of costumes may have responded more posi-tively to the impact of birds and bird friezes infrescoes and other media, the small Katsambafragment possibly bearing testimony to that fact.Such an interpretation could also explain the dis-crepancy between the decorative character of thecomposition and the concern with naturalistic de-

tail, both prominent features of the Katsamba birdfrieze. The former would have been dictated bythe general appearance of the object depicted, pre-sumably an embroidered belt, the latter by theworking habits of fresco painters in an era whennaturalism and high finish were outstanding fea-tures of their art.SCARBOROUGH COLLEGEUNIVERSITY OF TORONTOTORONTO, ONTARIO M65 2W2CANADA

a minoan fresco from katsamba

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