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Clay chest larnax with painted decoration

Π30485
Clay
Mended from many pieces and restored. The painted decoration is fugitive in many places.
Length: 118 cm. Width: 49 cm. Height: 77 cm.
Klima Mesara
Ston Ellina
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 high-quality painted decoration reflecting the direct influence of fresco-painting. Various creatures, symbols of the worlds of land and sea, are depicted in the relief panels on all four sides: two galloping bulls and two agrimia (wild goats), octopuses, argonauts and fish. They may refer to the distant shore beyond the Ocean, the ultimate destination of the blessed dead, according to Homeric and Hesiodic tradition. On one long side, a male figure in a long priestly garment stands on a dais, behind a throne. The scene unfolds in a natural landscape indicated by clumps of papyrus and geometric motifs representing rock formations or rivers. The throne is backless, with turned wooden legs, decorated with rosettes and furnished with hides or cushions. The symbolic content of the scene is unclear. It may depict the imminent enthronement of a god of Hades and the Last Judgement. However, it is also reminiscent of later beliefs in life-giving deities and heroes such as Zeus, Dionysus and Hyacinth, who are often portrayed enthroned, dying and reborn each year in accordance with the eternal cycle of vegetation. Minos himself, in Plato’s Gorgias, is presented as the judge of the dead, the highest arbiter who passes judgement “in the meadow”.
Bibliography:
Rethemiotakis, G. "Μινωική λάρνακα από το Klima Mesara." Αρχαιολογική Εφημερίς 34 (1995): 163-183.
Author:
D. M.


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