Stone column capital
Λ2781
Stone (Serpentine)
Intact capital, restored on parts of column and square abacus above it
Height: 13 cm. Max. Diameter: 17.5 cm.
Zakros
Block of houses on the southeast slope, Building ΣΤ
Late Bronze Age, Neopalatial period, Late Minoan IB period:
1500-1450 BC:
Gallery:
IVCase:
37Exhibition thematic unit:
Late Bronze Age - Neopalatial period (1700-1450 BC). The New Palaces. The zenith of Minoan civilisationThe Minoan world. Architecture
Description
Stone column capital carved from a single block of stone. It consists of a ring on the lower end, its edges stressed with circular grooves, and a larger ring on the upper end. The rings are separated by a concave section, while a similar, shorter section rises from the larger ring to support a square abacus (the flat slab forming the top of the capital) which is not preserved. The columns of the Minoan palaces were of wood, a material widely used in the palaces. The fact that this capital is made of stone is evidence of the opulent decoration of the houses in the environs of the palace of Zakros. However, its small size indicates that it does not come from a column supporting the roof but rather from the sculpted interior decoration. Creto-Mycenaean column capitals are strikingly similar to Doric capitals of the Historical period, evidence that the Creto-Mycenaean form was probably preserved in ancient Greek architecture.Bibliography:
N. Platon, Ζάκρος. Το νέον μινωικόν ανάκτορον, Athens 1974, 58, fig. 29. Ch. Tsountas, Ιστορία της αρχαίας ελληνικής τέχνης, Athens 1981, 104. C. Palyvou, Daidalos at Work. A Phenomenological Approach to the Study of Minoan Architecture, INSTAP Academic Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 2018, 160, fig. 146.Author:
S. M.Photographs' metadata