For all those who felt that the artist's illustration doesn't give justice to the colourful and vivid world of bronze age people of Akrotiri, here is a compilation I've made from some wonderful frescoes found in Akrotiri. Enjoy😊
1/ Detail of the fresco "Saffron Gatherers", 1650 BCE
Akrotiri was a settlement of the Cycladic culture that came under the influence of the Minoans. It was destroyed in the Theran eruption around the 16th century BCE and buried in volcanic ash.
50 times more powerful than the eruption of Vesuvius, the eruption of Thera was one of the largest volcanic events in human history, resulting in earthquakes, tsunamis and a volcanic winter.
In a local myth (Description of Greece, Pausanias), Briareus, one of the Hecatonchires, was the arbitrator in a dispute between Poseidon and Helios, between sea and sun: he adjudged the Isthmus of Corinth to belong to Poseidon and the acropolis of Corinth to be sacred to Helios.
Acrocorinth (the acropolis of Corinth)- continuously occupied from archaic times to the early 19th century- rises about 1800 feet above the surrounding plain. At the highest summit once was the Temple of Aphrodite ( famous for its alleged temple prostitution).
Detail from the "Ship procession" fresco of room 5 of the West House in Thera(Santorini).
Created almost 4,000 years ago, a masterpiece of the Aegean #BronzeAge.
National Archaeological Museum, Athens #Archaeology
Since its discovery in the 1970s these frescoes have been causing discussion between archaeologists about the sort of the depiction.
Covering the 3 sides of a room is approximately 12m long and 43 cm wide.
Here: a town with visible Minoan influence and the characteristic elements of Akrotiri (in the island of Thera) architecture, such as the flat roofs and multiple storeys.
It could be the island of Santorini, Crete or some other place?
It seems that the picture is a little refined to cover some imperfections on the face.
Blenheim palace looks amazing, I would love to visit. littlelondonwhispers.com/llw-travels/da…
To our right, Constantine the Great as a saint while crowned with the imperial stemma, carries the City that bares his name and offers it to the Virgin Mary.
The inscription reads - Constantine, the Great Emperor amongst the saints. (ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟC Ο ΕΝ ΑΓΙΟΙC ΜΕΓΑC ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥC ).
To our left, Justinian the First; also with a halo and the imperial stemma (crown). Justinian is holding the church of Hagia Sophia and offers it to the Virgin Mary.
The inscription reads - "Justinian Emperor of illustrious memory" ( ΙΟΥΣΤΙΝΙΑΝΟC Ο ΑΟΙΔΙΜOC ΒΑCIΛΕΥC)
Detail from the Derveni #Krater (ritual wine-mixing vessel) used as a funeral urn for a Thessalian aristocrat, Astiouneios, son of Anaxagoras from Larissa.
Satyrs and Meneads seated on the shoulder of the vase. Satyrs and Meneads are the traditional company of Dionysus (Bacchic thiasos), the god of wine, rebirth, fertility, ecstatic rituals etc
Derveni Krater is considered a masterpiece of Hellenistic art, 4th c. BCE
On the belly, the frieze is devoted to Ariadne and Dionysus, surrounded by revelling satyrs and maenads of the ecstatic retinue. The faces of underworld deities decorating the handles while snakes wrapping their bodies around them.