The Bull-Leaping Fresco

A bull-leaping scene, vividly depicting how the spectacular sport was performed. There are three participants, two white-skinned women and a brown-skinned man. One of the female athletes is restraining the bull by the horns to reduce its speed so that the leaper, performing the dangerous backwards somersault, will not be gored. The second female athlete, behind the bull, is waiting with outstretched arms to catch the leaper as he lands. The fresco was found on the east side of the palace of Knossos, together with fragments of others depicting different stages of the same sport.

Knossos  - Palace, 1500 – 1400 BC.

The “Ladies in Blue” Fresco

Part of a composition of richly dressed and lavishly bejeweled female figures depicted against a blue ground. Despite its fragmentary condition, the wall painting transmits the sense of opulence and prosperity of the royal court while reflecting the coquetry of the ladies, who gesture displaying the richness of their jewelry.

Knossos, Palace, 1600-1450 BC

The “Snake Goddesses”

The most important cult objects from the Knossos Temple Repositories are the figurines of the “Snake Goddess”. They are named after the snake twining around the body and arms of the larger figure, and the two snakes that the smaller figure holds in her upraised hands. The snakes symbolize the chthonic character of the cult of the goddess, while the feline creature on the head of the smaller figure suggests her dominion over wildlife. The goddesses wear luxurious garments, consisting of a long flounced skirt, an embroidered apron and a close-fitting bodice that exposes the large breasts, symbolic of the fertility of women and, by implication, nature itself.

Knossos – Temple Repositories, 1650-1550 BC.

The Phaistos Disc

The inscribed clay Phaistos Disk with stamped pictorial signs in a spiral configuration and arranged into groups. Experts have not yet come to any definitive conclusion regarding the content of the inscription and its relationship to Cretan scripts. The repetition of certain combinations of signs provides the most persuasive evidence that the inscription is an hymn or a text of magic character.

Phaistos, Early 17th century BC.