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Clay chest larnax with painted decoration

Π1619
Clay
Intact. The painted decoration is preserved in good condition.
Length: 122 cm. Width: 44 cm. Height: 108 cm.
Palaikastro
Agia Triada area
Late Bronze Age. Final Palatial period, Late Minoan ΙΙΙΑ2 period.:
1370-1300 BC:
Gallery:
XII
Case:
Not in case
Exhibition thematic unit:
Late Bronze Age - Postpalatial period (1300-1100 BC). The larnakes. The world of the dead
The larnakes: The world of the dead
Description
Chest larnax with gabled lid. The rich painted decoration includes, besides the geometric decorative motifs, various symbolic themes of Minoan iconography, such as waz-lilies, the column, the double axe, horns of consecration, birds and fish among astral symbols. The decoration is divided into panels. A particularly interesting element is the griffin in front of a papyrus flower. Griffins are fantastical creatures with the body of a lion and the head of a bird, usually seen accompanying the Great Goddess when she appears to mortals. The special symbolic significance of the image of the mythical beast is borne out by its presence in the throne rooms of the palaces of Knossos and Pylos, as well as on seals with religious subjects. The griffin on this larnax, as on other similar ones from Tanagra and the famous stone Agia Triada Sarcophagus, may indicate the presence of the Great Goddess, who, as the personification of the regenerative powers of nature, rules not only the world of the living but also the world of the dead.
Bibliography:
Bosanquet, R.C. "Excavations at Palaikastro I." Annual of the British School at Athens 8 (1901-2): 286-316. Watrous, L.V. "The origin and iconography of the Late Minoan painted larnax." Hesperia 90 (1991): 285-307. Merousis, Ν. Ι. Οι εικονογραφικοί κύκλοι των ΥΜ ΙΙΙ λαρνάκων. Οι διαστάσεις της εικονογραφίας στα πλαίσια των ταφικών πρακτικών. PhD Diss., Thessaloniki, 2000, 169.
Author:
D. M.


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