The Knossos palace and its frescoes

Take a look at this beautiful tiny fragment of a fresco. The original blue and yellow colors are still visible. The fragment was found at the beginning of the twentieth century by Sir Arthur Evans as part of the excavations of the entire palace at Knossos, located on the north coast of Crete (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2). This was the most important palatial center of the Greek world during the Minoan period (ca. 3000 – 1450 BC). The fresco itself can be dated to the Late Minoan IB period (ca. 1500-1450 BC), but the date is still the subject of debate.Cameron, M.A.S. (1971). "The Lady in Red: A Complementary Figure to the Ladies in Blue.", Archaeology 24 (1): 40-42.

According to the ancient Greek myth, the palace belonged to the legendary King Minos who reigned over Crete. The king is also famous for his labyrinth that housed the Minotaur, half man and half bull, who was eventually killed by Theseus from Athens.

Together with the entire palatial structure (including a large central courtyard, storage rooms, living quarters, and administrative and working rooms) plenty of fresco fragments were found. Because of its destruction and decay over time, no complete fresco has survived from the old structures. The restorer of this fresco therefore had to put these fragments together like a puzzle. You will see the result of this puzzle in the following step. But what can you make of this tiny fragment? What did the original fresco look like according to you?

You may wonder how the Minoans have made their frescoes. Let us zoom in on another fragment with some other colors, and allow us to tell you more about the plaster and pigmentation of this fresco.