Cyclades

AEGEAN: [Cyclades] [Crete] [Minoan] [Mycenaean] See also: [Art Periods] [Greece] [Art History (index)] [TIME LINE] (brought to you by Acme Time Conveyor Products) [Cyprus] (art & language refs as well) [Cypriot Script/Language] On this page: {Intro} {The Usual Suspects} (art thingies) {Religion} {Chronology}

Cyclades

Intro

The so-called Cycladid Islands consist of about 20 islands off of the South-East coast of Greece in the Mediteranina/Aegean sea. The islands are primarily identified by things found there and include the following islands (listed North to South) and listed after it are key finds. Syros - "the frying pan" Paros Naxos Keros - "figure of a woman", "Seated harp player" Melos Thera (and the site known as Akrotiri) Again it is important to remember the "Theran Hypothesis" that about 1450bce an island volcano on Thera exploded. There is ancilliary evidence from ground extracts from Ireland and California (among others?) that the date of the explosion could be as early as 1630-1620bce. This introduces a slew of about 200 years into dating of *any* artifacts in the region. The only recourse is if there are artifacts that were traded with (eg) the Egyptian Empires of the Middle and New Kingdoms; thus ranging from the 12th down to the 18th dynasties. In such cases, the objects *may* have some documentation in the more accurately dated Egyptian histories. According to The Saskatchwean Museum of Antiquities, The sculpture produced by the artisans of the Cyclades islands was very unique compared to the art being produced by the Egyptians and Mesopotamians. These sculptures, commonly called Cycladic idols, were often used as grave offerings, which points to the obvious role of religion in society. All of the idols were made of Parian marble. -[
Downloaded 2008.01.31 at 8:11 pct]- As well the Cycladic Museum in Greece offers this: http://www.cycladic-m.gr/

Images

Images are well-known in Art History, and these are primarily downloaded from the Cycladic Museum in Greece (alt text is from the same site) -[www.Cycladicl-m.gr]- Seated Figurine. The man, with elongated head and long, relief nose (which is now chipped away) recalls the folded-arm type of female figurines from the same period. The statuette (15 cm high) is entirely carved out of a single piece of marble: the daring protrusion of the right arm, the man's entirely separated legs and the realistic rendering of the stool are good indications on an artist confident in his [sic] skills. 2800-2300 BCE, White marble, Catalog number Col. No 286, And one of the most common found artifacts.... Female Figure. Stanidng at 1.40 m, this masterpiece of Cycladic sculpture may qualify as a statue. It follows the standard type, with the arms folded over the abdomen and the long feet, soles slopping downwards. It is because of the latter feature that some scholars assume that the figurines were meant to be reclining rather than standing. The only difference between this large statue and its [sic] smaller 'sisters' is that the figures ears are rendered in relief, as two curved crescents along the elongated head. 2800-2300 BCE, white marble, Catalog # Col. No. 724. This image is similar to that as the one in Stokstad; which she gives with a height of 63.4 cm. The text on the museum site is interesting as well: The majority of Cycladic Figurines show women, nude with the arms folded over the belly. We do not know whether they were meant to show mortals or deities, or even whether the Islanders venerated a number of deities, like the later-period Greeks, or simply worshipped one "Mother Goddess". In this case, the figurines may have been conceived as representations of the Goddess, or companions to her. As Stokstad points out: The Cyclades, especially the islands of Naxos and Paros, had ample supplies of a find and durable white marble. ... These figures are often found lying on graves. To shape the stone, sculptors used scrapers and chisels made from obsidain from the island of Melos and polishing stones of emery from Naxos. The introduction of metal tools may have made it possible for them to carve on a larger scale, but perhaps because the stone fractured so easily, they contnued to limit themselves to simplified sculptural forms. [Stokstad, P. 132] REF: Stokstad, Marily (2002). Art History - 2nd Edition, Volume 1. Harry N. Abrams, Inc, Publishers, ISBN 0.8109.0610.4, LCCN N'5300.S923'2001

The Usual Suspects

[
Back to the TOP of this page]

Religion

[
Back to the TOP of this page]

Chronology

Links

google: "cycladic art" -[
Saskatchewan Museum of Antiquities]- -[Museum of Cycladic Art in Greece]- -[]- -[]- -[]- -[]- [Back to the TOP of this page]