Animal Representations in Theran and Other Aegean Arts

Indeed, there are many representations of swallows, antelopes, capridae, monkeys, dolphins, etc., in Akrotiri. In this paper, I would like to study these animal figures without consideration of the problem of the zoological identification of the species. A full catalogue of all the published animal representations, not only in wall-paintings but also on pottery (including two vases from the Ecole Française collection) and other objects, ships and jewels, as revealed by the frescoes, is established. Then the themes, the iconography and the style of these representations are analysed and compared with the evidence of Crete, of the Greek mainland, and of the two other well-known Cycladic islands, Milos and Kea. This analysis enables us to stress the similarities and the contrasts between Theran and other contemporary Aegean arts. Minoan influence on Akrotiri, Cycladic traditions in Theran art, and Theran contributions to the formation of Mycenaean art and the diffusion of Cretan artistic motifs are also considered.

INTRODUCTION

Numerous scholars have taken interest in the remarkable documentation provided by the well-preserved remains of the Bronze Age town at Akrotiri. However, their articles have often ignored the animal representations. I have therefore established a catalogue of the published animal representations and I would like to propose an iconographic analysis - without consideration of zoological identification - of the pictorial representations (the numbers in parentheses refer to the catalogue) in relation to the other Aegean artistic evidence. Here are the first results of this investigation.

CAPRIDAE

In the miniature frieze of the north wall in room 5 of the West House, two herds of capridae are accompanied by a herdsman (62). The shape of the horns is different in each herd, and shows that the species are not identical. It is tempting to follow the distinction, however arbitrary, of J. Younger with reference to glyptic representations (Younger 1988, XVIII): goats and sheep have horns that curl back from the top of the head and under the cheek, while agrimia have long horns that sweep straight back from the head and begin to curve only near the tip. However, in the Thera fresco the goats clearly have erect horns. The term 'sheep' (including ram) should therefore be reserved for J. Younger's first category, and the loose term 'caprid' applied to the other representations, with no attempt to specify whether goat, agrimi, ibex, etc.

It should be noted that sheep are seldom represented in Minoan art, where daily life is rarely employed as a source of inspiration. However, we possess an early example of the motif of herdsman and herd: some 160 black-painted figurines of goats and a herdsman within an MM I bowl from Palaikastro (Foster 1982, 80, 85; Marinatos and Hirmer 1973, Pl. 18a).

The Theran representation of two herds crossing each other may be compared to the disposition in two registers and similar decoration of two Mycenaean pyxides, one of ivory from Menidi (Poursat 1977b, 145-146, no. 421, Pl. XLIV), the other painted in a fresco at Tiryns (Rodenwaldt 1912, 88, Pl. VIII, X. 3-4). The engraver aimed essentially at reproducing the mass of the two herds crossing, while the painter preferred, as at Thera, the effect of their flow in opposite directions. As A. Evans anticipated (Evans 1921, 685; 1935, 566), we have in the Miniature Fresco from Thera one of those models of monumental art which acted as a source of inspiration for ivory decoration, which in its turn served as intermediary model for glyptic art. A seal from Mycenae aptly illustrates the end-point of this transmission (CMS I, 113): a group of three sheep, one in the foreground with lowered head, the two others at the back turned in opposite directions.

A few further seals exist with sheep identical to those of the Miniature Fresco, some from Crete (Evans 1921, 614, Fig. 503 and 1935, 569-571, Fig. 543-547; CMS II 3, 191) and some from the mainland (CMS I, 48, 103, 176); but none is anterior to MM IIB. The earliest example, showing a sheep and a seated man, is from Knossos (Yule 1980, 127, Pl. 6. 6. 2). Despite the rarity of the motif, there are two excellent glyptic examples, very naturalistic and plastic, of this animal: one on a Neopalatial seal from Lyktos, the other from Lasithi (Kenna 1960, no. 200; CMS XII, 136). A seal from Kastri is engraved with a pastoral scene of the same type as that from Thera: a man tethers a ewe which suckles its lamb (Evans 1935, Fig. 543).

Examples in Cycladic art are not preserved, but that the sheep was known in the Early Bronze repertoire of this area is indicated by the head of a pin in the form of a ram from Dokathismata in Amorgos (Sapouna-Sakellaraki 1976, 128, Fig. 98).

Representations of capridae are much more numerous not only at Thera, but in the Aegean world in general. The herd of goats in the Miniature Fresco has a parallel in the Palaikastro bowl quoted above.

The composition in room Beta 6 seems to have included, apart from the monkeys, two goats (26). This fresco is so badly preserved that the fragments have been diversely interpreted. S. Marinatos first identified a dog's head, then that of a calf (S. Marinatos 1971, 46; 1972, 38); C. Doumas proposed a goat (Doumas 1983, 78) and N. Marinatos has attempted a purely conjectural reconstruction (N. Marinatos 1984, 113-114, Pl. D, Fig. 83). Here two goats are shown back-to-back on either side of a clump of crocus. This composition is the almost exact Theran parallel to the frieze of monkeys in the House of Frescoes at Knossos, as reconstructed by M. Cameron (Cameron 1968, 25-26, Fig. 12). Here two long-horned capridae are confronted heraldically about an olive-tree.

It was in vase-painting that the Theran artist's talent best expressed the lively movement of capridae leaping and gambolling. The animals, always in groups of three, are drawn in simple style and polychrome technique on two kymbai and a jug (27-29). The movement, suggested by the legs stretched forward and backward, is accentuated by the marked curving of the body. The creatures are disposed among clumps of crocus; the scene on the kymbai is completed by rocks. The other side of these vases is occupied by dolphins.

Representations of capridae, which were part of the local fauna, appear in all forms of Aegean art. Isolated or in composition with a human or other creature, the animal was frequently depicted by Cretan and Mycenaean seal-engravers (Younger 1988, 28-46, 241-242). The earliest glyptic representations go back to EM III-MM I (Yule 1980, 121-123). Capridae form a decorative motif of relief pottery, the earliest example being that from Palaikastro already mentioned, and the most remarkable that on an MM II/III bridge-spouted jug from Phaistos (Foster 1982, 80, 85, 89, 111 Chart 12, Pl. 39). They also decorate stone vases, like the famous rhyton from Zakro (Marinatos and Hirmer 1973, Pl. 108-110). Mention has already been made of evidence from wall-painting. Among sculpture, the terracotta example from Thera (25) and that in bronze from Phaistos (Hood 1978, Fig. 99) may be quoted. As regards precious metal, the Minoan pendant in the British Museum, and a pin-head from tomb IV at Mycenae, serve as illustrations (Higgins 1980, Pl. 5D; Karo 1930, 75, no. 245, Pl. XVIII).

On the other hand, capridae are relatively unfamiliar in vase-painting. A few representations are attested in EM III. They are rendered very schematically - only the horns allow identification - in light-on-dark technique (Walberg 1983, 60, Pl. 49 (X)).

A sherd from Knossos dated slightly later (MM IA) is decorated with a file of capridae, less schematic than those mentioned, painted in dark-on-light technique (Evans 1921, 182, Fig. 132). Subsequently, capridae disappear from the iconographic repertoire until the Postpalatial period, when representations are frequent (Betancourt 1985, Pl. 27A, 30B, 31E). Noteworthy among these are the fragments of a cup from Psychro (the Dictaean Cave) showing capridae, here very stylized, gambolling in a vegetal decor (Hogarth 1900, 102-103, Fig. 30). The theme is transferred in LH IIIB to Mycenaean pottery, where, however, capridae are less popular than bulls (Furumark 1972, 250, motif 6; Vermeule and Karageorghis 1982, 99-101, 116, 141-143).

Cycladic pottery at the end of Middle and beginning of Late Bronze differs from the outline sketched above. As in Thera, so at Phylakopi on Milos, vases or rather sherds have been excavated which are decorated with capridae. The finest example is a head and neck carefully drawn, with contour painted in black, the interior in red (Atkinson 1904, 145-146, Fig. p.176). Another fragment perhaps contains a further representation of a caprid, showing part of the schematic hindquarters and a small tail (Atkinson 1904, Pl. XXI. 4).

The originality of Milian and Theran pottery at this period should be noted, as it alone employs the caprid motif. In both islands the drawing is executed in a characteristically similar technique: Black-and-Red bichromy at Phylakopi and polychromy at Akrotiri. The Theran painters preferred expression of movement, while the Milian artist was more attracted by the naturalistic rendering of the figure.

ANTELOPES

The six animals painted on the walls of Beta A (1) have been identified as antelopes (S. Marinatos 1971, 46-47; Sapouna-Sakellaraki 1981, 498; Doumas 1983, 78-79) or gazelles (Säflund 1986, 185). It should immediately be noted that neither belong to the local fauna of Thera or Crete. According to N. Marinatos, the iconographic form is a hybrid of several antelope and gazelle species derived from other pictures, and it is thus probable that the painter had never seen the real animal (N. Marinatos 1984, 106). Unlike the monkey, there is no evidence that individual imported specimens inhabited the islands. This said, we shall continue to refer to these representations by the conventional title of antelopes which has usually been attributed to them.

Since the antelope was an exotic creature, such representations are obviously very rare in Aegean art. The position adopted by the pairs of antelopes in the Theran fresco is also infrequent. It corresponds to position 19B in the classification of J. Younger, who notes only two examples (Younger 1988, 2, 75, where they are wrongly placed under heading 19C). A few more or less certain examples - some going back to MM - are furnished by glyptic art (CMS II 2, 46; II 3, 389?; VII, 113?, 184, 200?; XIII, 126). Here, however, we again meet the difficulty of identifying capridae.

One of the faience plaques from the Temple Repositories at Knossos, dated to MM IIIB, perhaps offers another representation: the antelope with graceful modelling and long curved horns, suckling one of its young (Foster 1979, 91-92, Fig. 23, Pl. 19). Thick black marks indicate the contours of hindquarters, spine, neck, head and hoofs. This anticipates the style of the Thera paintings, in which the bodies are also indicated by thick contour lines, with the exception of the heads whose execution is more detailed, with certain features, notably the eyes, painted in red. E. Sapouna-Sakellaraki has stressed that this manner of painting is related to the technique of seal-engraving (Sapouna-Sakellaraki 1981, 498).

It should be added, lastly, that the iconography of the antelope in the Aegean is probably borrowed from Egypt, where the animals, which belonged to the local fauna, were frequently represented (Störk 1975, 319-323; Brunner-Traut 1977, 426-427). However, the steps in the transmission of this motif are missing at the present time.

DEER AND LIONS

These two species are represented in the Miniature Fresco of the West House. In the Fleet frieze, they are both associated in the motif of the pursuit of three deer (one incomplete) by a lion in a flying gallop (31), while the lion is employed alone as stern- or hull-decoration of certain vessels (53, 55). Another deer forms part of the tropical landscape (30): the dappled hide and the shape of the horns differentiate this example from the horned deer above, and may indicate a female; it will nevertheless be referred to as 'deer' without further precision.

The deer is well-known, though not extremely popular, in Aegean art. The earliest representation goes back to MM, the most numerous examples being furnished by glyptic art, though the motif is not very familiar there (Yule 1980, 125-126). A seal from the south tholos of Siva could even be slightly earlier (EM III-MM IA) (CMS II 1, 374a). The animal, alone or in a pair, constitutes the main motif on the seals, never forming part of a hunting scene.

Deer are also present in Cretan wall-painting, but the Miniature Fresco from Thera and the contemporary one from Kea which includes fragments of a deer-hunt (Abramovitz 1980, 61-62, 66-67, Pl. 6d) provide us with its first appearance in monumental art. A fresco from Ayia Triada shows two fragmentary deer, the hide marked with circles sometimes containing a point, and led by a woman (Parebini 1908, 71-72, Fig. 22). The animals are painted in white and pink with black features emphasized in red; there is thus no real attempt at naturalism in the choice of colours.

Other examples of deer in painting come from the mainland. Only fragments of the scenes containing deer, which decorated the palace of Tiryns, have been preserved (Rodenwaldt 1912, 140-154, Pl. XI, XV-XVII). Here we see gaily-coloured deer at stand, galloping or fighting. Although predator or hunters are not preserved, we perhaps have to do with a hunting scene. The deer's hide is conventionally marked with black crosses. The animals are rather schematic and suggest a preference for decorative effect over realism. The deer preserved in fragments of wall-paintings from Pylos are less stylized than those of Tiryns (Lang 1969, 96-97, 104-106, Pl. 45-46, 48, 131-132, C, E, R). In general their hide is tan-coloured and not marked with crosses. One example (4 c 19), executed very carefully, shows excellent naturalistic rendering. With the exception of this last fragment, the state of preservation of the rest does not seem to indicate that the animals formed part of hunting-scenes.

The final painted representation of deer is very late. It appears on a stele from Mycenae dated to LH IIIC. The lower register is composed of four deer, with hides alternately red and blue (Mylonas 1983, 219, Fig. 171).

At Mycenae, deer are already frequent in the art of the Shaft Graves. Among examples of deer alone may be quoted the silver rhyton in the form of a deer from grave IV (Karo 1930, 94, no. 388, Pl. CXV), and the relief representations in gold leaf of a pair of deer back-to-back from grave III (Karo 1930, 50, nos. 45-46, Pl. XXVI). Mycenaean glyptic art provides numerous examples of deer. The animal is frequently shown alone, and in different positions (CMS I, 13, 15, 41, 81, 272b, 320, 324?, 412; I Suppl., 55-56). A. Sakellariou has pointed out that in glyptic art two species of deer are represented, the cervus Elaphus and cervus Dama (Sakellariou 1966, 7-10). The second is the only type represented on Minoan seals, and appears sporadically in Mycenaean art: it is limited to the seal from grave III and ring from grave IV at Mycenae (CMS I, 13, 15), and the above mentioned fresco from Tiryns.

Mycenaean pictorial pottery also included the deer in its repertoire. However, it does not appear until LH IIIB, continuing during IIIC (Furumark 1972, 247, motif 5, Fig. 28, 442-443; Catling 1980, 440-447; Vermeule and Karageorghis 1982, 98-101, 115-116, 144).

Deer also decorate Mycenaean ivories; they appear sometimes as carcasses carried by a genius, but more often in scenes of combat, where they are generally the victims of griffins (Poursat 1977a, 77-79, 83-84). The LH II pyxis from a tomb on the Areopagus of Athens is a famous illustration of the theme which is found, differently composed, in the Tropical Landscape of Thera.

The group of deer and lion is rarer among the ivories, but before embarking on the motif of deer pursued by a lion, let us examine the iconography of the latter animal in isolation.

We possess a good fifty Cretan seals dated to MM which represent a lion; the earliest examples may go back to EM III-MM IA (Yule 1980, 127-129). The representation is often schematic and shows marked formality of design. The precise, decorative rendering of detail appears later especially in Mycenaean art. However, the depiction of the mane in tapered locks, characteristic both of Mycenaean lions and those on the hulls of Theran ships, is already attested on a sealing from Phaistos attributed to MM IIB (CMS II 5, 270). Furthermore, lions at this period never form part of hunting-scenes. Only the attitude is of interest to the engravers, who show three principal poses: resting, contortion (decoratively the most effective) and rearing in antithetic pairs. The flying gallop appears on another Protopalatial sealing from Phaistos (CMS II 5, 277). The motif of the lion is not limited to glyptic art. For example, it inspired the artist responsible for the LM I gold bead from Ayia Triada (Marinatos and Hirmer 1973, Pl. 114 bottom). A fragment of red-painted stucco from the palace of Knossos shows part of a mane (Evans 1935, 538, Fig. 489).

The lion is one of the favourite motifs of Mycenaean artists; H. Wace in 1965 counted almost fifty examples from the site of Mycenae alone (Wace 1965, 336-344). The theme was already familiar among the objects from the Shaft Graves, which testify to its rapid integration into Mycenaean art.

It appears as sole decoration, or as part of a traumatic narrative, in the art of the Mycenae Grave Circles (Vermeule 1975, 35-44). An inlaid dagger and the tip of another from Mycenae are decorated with lions in flying gallop, which are very close to those on the ship's hull in the Miniature Fresco of Thera (Karo 1930, 95-97, no. 394, Pl. XCIV, 97, no. 395, Pl. XCIII-XCIV). In the first example, we see, exactly as in Thera, a file of lions in flying gallop between veined rocks, which hang or rise on either side of the blade, whose figures diminish progressively towards the tip. Mycenaean ivories and glyptic art provide numerous other examples of lions (Sakellariou 1966, 4-7; Poursat 1977a, 68-74). Paradoxically, however, in view of its popularity, the lion is absent from the repertoire of Mycenaean pictorial pottery.

If the lion and deer, in differing degrees, are well integrated into Aegean art from the Middle Bronze Age, it must be admitted that the theme of lions pursuing deer is rare. We have seen that in Mycenaean art the deer is often victim of a griffin, but while a bull attacked by lions is a frequent theme in Mycenaean and Late Minoan art, the lion is hardly represented as a predator of deer. The first hunting scenes in Minoan art are posterior to the appearance of lion and deer in the iconography: they are found on some seals dated to MM II (for example Kenna 1960, no. 113; CMS II 5, 258, 284), but in each of these examples the predator is a hound and the prey is never a deer. The lion is unknown as predator in hunting motifs during MM II and III. It appears in this role in the course of the first phase of the Late Bronze Age (cf. Pini 1985, 153-166), and the Miniature Fresco from Thera is undoubtedly one of the earliest examples of the association lion-deer, otherwise absent or extremely rare in Minoan art. Better known on the mainland, it is found on a number of objects from the Shaft Graves at Mycenae, for example the inlaid blade from grave IV, on which one of the deer (whose hide is marked with crosses) has been seized by the neck; the gold plaques of the hexagonal box from grave V, where the motif is stylized in the manner of the art of the steppes; and on the stele from the same grave (Karo 1930, 95-97, nos. 394, Pl. XCIII-XCIV; 143-144, nos. 808-811, Pl. CXLIII-CXLIV; 35, no. 1427, Pl. VII).

More or less contemporary, a fragmentary silver chalice from Dendra shows deer hunted by hounds (Persson 1931, 52-54, Fig. 30, Pl. XII), and a goblet in the Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire of Brussels represents the two studied animals, deer and lion, in flying gallop (Laffineur 1977, 122-123, Fig. 45-46). The movement of the Theran lion is however much more naturalistic than the conventional attitude of a number of representations from the Shaft Graves. The motif of deer attacked by lion is also illustrated in Mycenaean glyptic art generally in its early and middle phases (CMS V, 222; X, 128-130; XI, 169, 270; XVII, 213; XIII, 20). A seal in the British Museum, representing two deer attacked by a lion placed in the field above its prey, shows a composition more or less analogous to that of Thera (CMS VII, 159). However, on the seals the deer are more frequently pursued by one or more hounds (CMS I, 363; V, 184; VII, 96; XI, 42, 171, 211, 222, 296; XII, 242).

In vase-painting, hunting scenes with deer are rare, not occurring before LH IIIB, and the hound is preferred to the lion as predator (Catling 1980, 444-445, nos. 1, 13, 26); however, as the vases are fragmentary, the motif of pursuit by hounds may have formed part of hunting scenes which included humans. Only two vases combine deer and lions: the first from Ras Shamra, and the second, dated to the second phase of LH IIIC, from Lefkandi (Catling 1980, 445, no. 28; Vermeule and Karageorghis 1982, 140, no. 79, Pl. XI-79).

MONKEYS

The monkey is relatively familiar in Theran art: it is represented four times, always in wall-paintings.

In the group of frescoes from Xeste 3, young women gather crocuses in a rocky landscape, which includes a female figure seated on a triple platform and flanked by two animals, a griffin and a monkey (56).

From room 2 comes a fragmentary frieze showing monkeys holding swords or playing the lyre in a rocky landscape with crocuses where swallows are living (59).

Sector A produced a fresco fragment preserving the upper part of a monkey with forepaws raised in front of an altar which is topped with horns of consecration and supported by columns ending in papyrus capitals (58).

Finally, room Beta 6 was decorated with a rocky landscape containing a group of monkeys at play (57).

The ritual aspect of the first example, in which the enthroned female is evidently a goddess, is uncontested. N. Marinatos has demonstrated the role of the monkey in this composition. From its attitude it appears to be a servant of the divinity, acting as intermediary between humanity and the divine world (N. Marinatos 1987, 124-130). A ring from Phaistos, another from Kalyvia, two seals from the Giamalakis collection, and a sealing from Zakro show a similar scene, in which the divine figure may be either feminine or masculine (CMS I Suppl., 114; II 3, 103; Xenaki-Sakellariou 1958, nos. 359, 372; Evans 1928, Fig. 492). The upright position of the monkey, attested in the Theran fresco, is relatively rare in glyptic art, where the monkey is generally shown squatting, with both arms raised in a characteristic gesture of adoration. This posture is more frequently employed in compositions which lack a narrative element. It is already attested in the Prepalatial period, for example on a seal from Kastelli Pediada and perhaps another from Mochlos (CMS VII 6; II 1, 473).

The fresco fragment from Sector A is a variant of the preceding theme, for although no divine figure is preserved, the column surmounted by horns of consecration and the monkey's gesture clearly indicate the religious content of the scene.

The monkey-musician and monkey-dancers, as C. Doumas interprets those holding sword and scabbard from Xeste 3 (Doumas 1985, 31), have parallels in the numerous representations of personified monkeys from the ancient Near East (Rutten 1938, 97-119; Vandier 1966, 143-201; Mendleson 1983, 81-83). C. Doumas compares the monkey-harpist from Thera with those which appear on two Egyptian ostraka in the Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire in Brussels, two figurines in the Egyptian Museum of West Berlin, and a sealing from the necropolis of Ur; dancing monkeys are also attested in oriental art.

The nearest parallel to the Monkey fresco from Beta 6 is the contemporary frieze from the House of Frescoes at Knossos, as reconstructed by M. Cameron (Cameron 1968, 1-31). This remarkable series of paintings shows birds, some in flight, and monkeys in a rocky landscape among streams and waterfalls with flowers of many different kinds, papyri, iris, crocuses. This scene may depict a raid on a nesting area.

The landscape of the Knossos frieze is more luxuriant than that of Thera, in which the rocks are bare, and the river only occupies the lower part of the composition. This austerity is compensated by the dynamic movement of the monkeys, in contrast to those at Knossos, both in the House of Frescoes and the scene of the saffron-gatherer as restored by N. Platon (Platon 1947, 505-524), which are uniformly tranquil.

On the other hand, identical pictorial conventions are found both in Thera and at Knossos. All the frescoes use blue for the monkey's skin. Belly and groin are painted white. The details of the head differ in the two areas: although in both it is small and round with more or less pointed muzzle, the face between the white bar on the forehead and the muzzle is yellow-orange at Knossos, and black (Beta 6) or blue with black nose (Xeste 3) on Thera. The cheeks are always white and either striped with black at Knossos, or marked with black dots towards the muzzle in Thera. The eyes, generally round except for the almond-shaped type of Xeste 3, are painted white with red iris at Knossos, and red with black iris or white with yellow iris (Xeste 3) in Thera. The trefoil-shaped ears are mauve with a thick black contour; in the case of Xeste 3 they are pointed and yellow. If the monkeys of Beta 6 in Thera and the House of Frescoes at Knossos are generally very similar, that of Xeste 3 is quite distinct. Besides the features mentioned, the more pointed head, elongated muzzle and kind of mane clearly indicate another species, in which it is perhaps possible to identify a baboon. 

Although the monkey is portrayed both in Minoan and in Theran art, the differences of representation imply that the Theran artists were not content to copy Cretan models. The discovery of a Bronze Age petrified skull of a cercopithecus in Thera (Poulianos 1972, 229-230) suggests that the representation of monkeys on the island was the result of observation of the real animal.

On the other hand, the monkey is very rare in Mycenaean iconography. Only two examples are known to me: one on a fragment of the so-called Siege Rhyton from Mycenae (Sakellariou 1975, 202, 203, Fig. 1, 3), the other on a sealing from Pylos (CMS I, 377). The first example is contemporary with those of Thera, and there is general agreement that the piece is of Cretan workmanship (Sakellariou 1975, 208; Davis 1977, 227-230), possibly Cycladic (Negbi 1978, 654-655). The Pylos sealing is attributed to LH IIIB2-IIIC, but despite its late date, we probably have to do with the product of a Cretan workshop, or Mycenaean copy of a Cretan model (Sakellariou 1966, 12). The iconography of the monkey is thus alien to Mycenaean art.

Although the monkey was not a native of the Aegean, it was employed very early there as an iconographic motif. It makes its appearance in the Prepalatial period on an EM II-III seal from Mochlos representing two baboons (?) back-to-back (CMS II 1, 473; Kenna 1960, 18-19, Fig. 28); and much more schematically on another seal from Kastelli Pediada (CMS VII, 6) - both examples already quoted. The ivory seals from Platanos, Trapeza, Ayia Triada and the Giamalakis collection, the amethyst from the Erskine collection, and the pendant of rock crystal from Knossos, all dated to the end of EM or the beginning of MM, are cut in the form of a seated monkey (CMS II, 249, 435, 20; Xenaki-Sakellariou 1958, no. 2; CMS VIII, 109; Coldstream 1973, 162-163 no. 258). An iconographic and typological analysis of these objects, which are among the earliest representations of monkeys in Crete, shows that the Minoan engravers were inspired by Egyptian figurines current under the Old Empire (Evans 1921, 83, 120; 1927, 763-764; Matz 1928, 31, 33, 72; Kenna 1960, 18; Canciani 1973, 107-110).

That the monkey held an important place in ancient Egypt is well known. Belonging to local fauna until the Middle Empire (Brunner-Traut 1975, 83), it was not only appreciated as a companion by both men and women, but is shown co-operating in various human activities, such as fruit-picking or transport. In addition, the baboon very early became an object of veneration, associated later especially with the god of wisdom, Thot. The importance of the monkey in Egypt explains the numerous representations painted in the mastabas of the Old Empire or the tombs of the New Empire, where the animal is often placed beneath ladies' chairs, as well as on ostraka (McDermott 1938, 3-14; Keimer 1939, 42-45; Vandier 1964, 146-177; 1965, 177-188; 1968, 143-201; Brunner-Traut 1975, 83-85). Whereas in Aegean painting the colour of the skin is blue, in Egypt it is generally greenish, though occasionally blue.

The monkey was never part of Mesopotamian fauna, and its presence in local art implies exotic influence. It is represented on seals, in figurines and terracotta relief plaques or amulets of various materials. It is already attested in archaic levels at Uruk and in the royal tombs of Ur. But we need not always look for deep symbolic meanings in their presence in ancient Mesopotamian art and life. In fact, monkeys could be just pets, as they often were in Egyptian society. They were no doubt introduced as gifts from Egypt or the valley of the Indus, where the long-tailed rhesus macaque was trained to dance and play musical instruments in the company of a musician, like the present-day Monkey Wallah of India (McDermott 1938, 14-20; Hilzheimer 1932, 41-42; Rutten 1938, 97-119; Mendleson 1983, 81-83).

The representation of monkeys in the Aegean thus seems, according to the evidence of the earliest Cretan examples, to have at first been borrowed from Egyptian iconography. Later on, the painters of Aegean frescoes were probably inspired by real monkeys. These must have arrived in Crete and Thera as gifts, like those represented in the expedition to Punt at Deir el-Bahri, and in the delegations from the tomb of Rekhmire (McDermott 1938, 3-6).

However, it is unlikely that the Near East in general or Anatolia in particular exercised any influence here. Monkeys in those regions were exotic animals, and the earliest Cretan representations are anterior to the influx into Crete of Anatolian iconographic motifs (pace Levi 1969, 241-264), and notably those of monkeys from Karahöyük (Alp 1968, 167, no. 29, 197, no. 120). Furthermore, the possible evidence provided by the palaeo-Syrian cylinder-seal from Poros, on which a monkey is represented, reveals strong Egyptian influence, as E. Moller has shown (Moller 1980, 95-96 no. 5, Fig. 9).

DUCKS AND FELINES

Thera has furnished three representations of ducks, twice in wall-paintings and once as necklace beads, which also appear in a fresco. With the exception of the last example, the ducks always form part of a landscape.

In the so-called Tropical Landscape of the West House, two similar though distinct iconographic themes are reproduced. The first is that of a feline hunting its prey, in this case ducks (48). A feline with blue spotted skin springs in flying gallop upon two ducks, a fragmentary one taking flight, and another turning its head back towards the predator. A palm-tree separates feline and ducks.

This is a frequent scene in Aegean art. A fragmentary fresco from room 14 at Ayia Triada shows a cat hidden behind a thicket of ivy, stalking a bird (Demargne 1964, Fig. 198).The representation of the cat shows the artist's exceptional gift of observation in portraying the animal about to spring, the neck bent, back arched, the paws placed lightly on the ground. This naturalistic rendering is very different from the conventional flying gallop of the feline at Thera. The two frescoes differ in other respects: although discoloured by fire, the Cretan fresco prefers yellow and brownish tones, the duck is replaced by a pheasant-like bird, and the exotic vegetation by lilies and ivy.

It is possible that two fragments of painted stucco from Knossos dated to LM I preserve a similar representation, which includes the top of the head of a feline with yellow spotted skin and rather rounded ears, and part of the tail as well as the spread wings of a bird with richly-coloured plumage (Evans 1921, Fig. 392).

Minoan glyptic art also employed this motif, but in more compact form on account of the dimensions and surface available. A seal of unknown provenance represents the scene as at Thera: a feline in flying gallop springs upon a duck with spread wing and head turned backward; the landscape is indicated by clumps of vegetation (CMS I Suppl., 75). A seal from Knossos shows a cat about to bite a duck which tries to escape, while a seconp bird takes flight (CMS II 3, 172). The same scene, but with a single duck, is represented on a seal from Mirabello (Kenna 1960, no. 328). In both these examples the clumps of vegetation are accompanied by a horizontal line, undulating in the first case, in the lower part of the composition. This may indicate a river, as in the Theran fresco.

The motif of felines hunting ducks was adopted on the mainland at about the same period, but did not persist later. It appears on an inlaid dagger dated to LH IA from grave V at Mycenae (Karo 1930, 138-139, no. 765, Fig. 54-56, Pl. XCIII-XCIV; Marinatos and Hirmer 1973, Pl. XLIX, LI). The two sides are decorated with felines of two different types (cat, and feline with spotted coat) depicted in gold plate, hunting and biting ducks which are depicted with gold and silver plate, amidst the papyrus thickets of river-banks.

Tholos 2 at Routsi has furnished two examples attributable to LH IIA. An inlaid blade is decorated with felines hunting in the same type of landscape. However, no prey is represented, although the stalking feline in the centre is rendered with great realism (Marinatos and Hirmer 1973, Pl. LII, Fig. 195). On each side of an ivory comb dated to LH IIA from Routsi, two cats spring upon two ducks, which they bite in the neck, simultaneously preventing them with one paw from flying away. The scene takes place in a rocky landscape (Poursat 1977b, 138, no. 410, Pl. XLI).

It should be observed that the Mycenaean examples always represent the moment when the feline bites the bird, in contrast to the Minoan and Theran examples. However this theme shows once more that the scenes of hunting, so popular in Mycenaean art, are not absent from Crete; but there is a tendency in Minoan and Theran arts to avoid direct conflict, while Mycenaean artistic taste is characterized by a predominance of violent scenes.

The origin of the motif is not native to the Aegean. As A. Evans showed long ago, and S. Immerwahr more recently (Evans 1930, 113-118; Immerwahr 1985, 41-50), the feline hunting a water-bird, papyrus thickets, a river, and even palm-trees at Thera, all indicate a Nilotic landscape. From the Vth Dynasty, the mastaba of Ti or the tomb of Nianchchnum and Chnumhotep at Saqqara provide models for the representation of felines of all types, frequently an ichneumon, sometimes a cat, spying on water-fowl. Later in the XIIth Dynasty, the decoration of tomb 3 of Chnumhotep at Beni Hassan contains the same scene. The Egyptian representations are characterized by the feline's static attitude.

It is precisely the same absence of movement which is shown by the cats on three vases with moulded decoration from quartier Mu at Mallia (Poursat 1980, 120-124, nos. 172-174, Fig. 171-175). Although these do not contain any birds, we probably have here the earliest Minoan examples based on the Egyptian model. A similar figurine of a cat from quartier Theta is slightly earlier (van Effenterre 1976, 4-5, Fig. p. 9, Pl. XVIII). J.-C. Poursat and S. Immerwahr, arguing from the style of the trees, have stressed the influence of Egyptian art, painting in particular, on the Mallia vases. However, Aegean art quickly replaced the static attitude of the feline by movement.

Representations of ducks are not limited to this single theme. They are also found in slightly different scenes, though belonging to the same artistic genre, sometimes though not always flying, in a supposedly Nilotic landscape with river and vegetation, frequently papyrus. It is hardly surprising that here, too, Aegean art sought its models in Egypt (Evans 1930, 115-118; Schachermeyr 1967, 48, 63; Kenna 1968, 29-34). The flora and fauna of the Nile inspired Egyptian artists from the Old Kingdom down to the Late Period (for example, Vth dynasty: mastabas of Achhotep, Ti, or Nianchchnum and Chnumhotep at Saqqara, the pyramid of Userkaf at Abousir; VIth dynasty: the mastaba of Kaemanch at Giza; XIIth dynasty: tomb no. 3 of Chnumhotep at Beni Hassan; XVIIIth dynasty:. tomb no. 52 of Nakht, no. 69 of Menna, no. 93 of Kenamun, no. 149 of Nebamon at Thebes; Amarna; Ptolemy VI Philometor: mamissi of Kom Ombo).

Thera furnishes two scenes of this type: the so-called Tropical Landscape (46) and the fresco from room 3 of Xeste 3 (45). In the first example, so far as the state of preservation of the northern extremity shows, a duck flies with wings spread either side of its body in a Nilotic landscape; in the second, a duck painted in realistic colours flies over a thicket of reeds, one wing spread above its body.

Apart from the Therein painted examples, figurines of ducks in bronze or terracotta exist from the Neopalatial period (Karetsou 1976, Pl. 230ζ; 1978, Pl. 170 β-γ), but it is above all in glyptic art that representations of ducks are found, either isolated or in pairs, more rarely in groups of three or exceptionally four. These scenes are very numerous in Crete (cf. lists of Sakellarakis 1980, 4 n. 32 and of Younger 1988, 197-201). Although the motif was adopted on the mainland, it was hardly popular, as it is only attested in six examples (CMS I, 258 (Vapheio); 151 (Mycenae); 272 (Routsi); V 439 (Nichoria); 582 (Kasarma) and I Suppl., 33 (Pylos)). J.G. Younger attributes the first three seals, dated stylistically to the end of LH I, to the 'Master of the Vapheio-Rutsi Prisms', a Minoan artist or workshop whose products were highly prized on the mainland (Younger 1983, 120-121). The seal from Pylos should be assigned to LH I-II (Sakellarakis 1980, 5). After LH II the motif disappears from mainland glyptic art, with the notable exception of the Nichoria seal.

Representations of ducks on seals are, however, not always accompanied by vegetation, still less by a lower line perhaps indicating a river, as in the wall-paintings, rather than a contour of the ground (for example Kenna 1960, no. 343, 51S; CMS II 3, 350; VII, 44). Ducks flying in Nilotic landscapes are even rarer, the field available on a seal being unsuitable to this type of representation. I have found six examples (CMS I Suppl., 33 (Pylos); CMS IV, 246 (Mochlos), 257 (Mallia), CMS V, 234 (Kastelli), 439 (Nichoria), 582 (Kasarma)).

Apart from glyptic art, the vase-painters, especially in Milos, were inspired by the Nilotic landscape with water-birds. A bath-fragment from Phylakopi shows a flying water-bird among papyri, its wings spread either side of its body, of which only part is preserved, with part of the neck and wings. An analogous scene decorated another fragment where a head of a duck against a background of reeds appears (Atkinson et al. 1904, 141-142, Fig. 114-115). The files of polychrome birds which decorate two jugs from Thera (13-14) probably recall Nilotic scenes, though without the naturalistic elements of the landscape, which are replaced by red bands picked out in white.

The Nilotic motif borrowed from Egyptian painting was thus more or less faithfully reproduced mainly in Minoan and Cycladic art; it was also adapted by the Minoan artists to the rocky landscape so much admired in Crete, with consequent transformation of birds and vegetation. It appears thus in the frieze of the House of Frescoes at Knossos, or the much less detailed Spring Fresco of Thera. In certain representations the original motif is wholly abandoned, and the birds become the central theme. They are then arranged in the form of a frieze, as in the Partridge and Hoopoe Frieze from the Caravanserai at Knossos, the fresco from Katsamba (Shaw 1978, 27-34) and the Blue Bird Fresco from Ayia Irini in Kea (Coleman 1973, 286-293, 296, Fig. 1, Pl. 54-56), where landscape and vegetation are very stylized. Files of water-birds were adopted by Minoan and Mycenaean vase-painters, beginning with the Palace style; an amphora in this style found at Argos leaves no doubt as to the pictorial model (Niemeier 1985, 126-127; Furumark 1972, 250-254, motif 7; Vermeule and Karageorghis 1982, 73-75, 76, 82-84, 102-104, 116-117, 145-149).

The theme finally evolves into the exclusive presence of birds. A file of birds is already the sole decoration on a ship's hull in the Miniature Fresco of Thera, and on the inlaid dagger blade, perhaps Messenian, in the Tenri Museum at Nara in Japan (Papadopoulos 1986, 127-135), as well as on that from Prosymna where the birds are shown in various attitudes (Blegen 1937, 331-332, Col. Pl. II facing p. 30, Fig. 458-459). On the silver cup from Dendra, decorated with five water-birds in four-lobed medallions, the arrangement in zones bordered by triple U-patterns -recalling the original rocks, as in the Theran example - is the sole reminiscence of a frieze (Persson 1942, 137-141, Fig. 93-94, 100, Pl. VI). Finally, a filling duck becomes a quite secondary flying motif in the rocky decor on the pyxis from Katsamba (Alexiou 1967, 55-56, no. 9, Pl. 30-33).

The two painted ducks from Thera illustrate the alternative methods of representing a bird in flight in Aegean art. The first quite naturalistically shows the body with the two wings bent upward, all in profile. The second more conventionally combines the characteristic aspects. The wings, with feathers clearly distinguished and viewed from below, are spread either side of a body with spread tail also viewed from below (except for the head which is seen in profile), or a body seen wholly in profile. The legs are not systematically represented.

The last Theran representation of a duck appears in the beads of the goddess's necklace from Xeste 3 (47). These have been studied by C. Televantou, who compares them to the gold bead from Knossos and those from Palaikastro, while noting certain differences of form (Televantou 1984, 38-39).

SWALLOWS AND OTHER BIRDS

From Delta 2, the only ground-floor room up to now to be decorated with paintings, comes one of the finest representations of the swallow bequeathed us by antiquity, to judge by the care of the composition and elegance of the birds themselves. Seven swallows, alone or in pairs, fly among oversize red lilies growing in a rocky landscape (74). The body is simply rendered: black above, the lower body and wings white, the throat red. The attitude of flight already described recurs, though with one of the swallows from the west wall the artist has achieved a successful effect of perspective, by means of the three-quarter aspect clearly indicated in the position of feet and wings.

The swallow in the fresco fragment from Xeste 3.2 shows the same suppleness and generally great similarity to the preceding examples (75). M. Hollinshead attributes all these representations to a single artist, stressing the similar technique of thick black contour lines for wings and body, with the exception of the head which is completely black with red details. She notes the same technique in other Theran representations, all with either fine or thick black contour lines, and only certain features treated in detail; among these she includes the antelopes whose contoured profile (apart from the head, which is less summary) has been mentioned (Hollinshead 1989).

Other painters did not attain the virtuosity of their colleague. The swallow preserved on a fragment which formed part of the scene with monkeys from Beta 6, has a massive body with spread wings apparently viewed from above, as it is painted entirely dark except for part of the head which is red (68).

The vase-painters were also inspired by the elegance of swallows. Some ten vases excavated at Akrotiri are decorated with swallows in flight. They include high-spouted jugs, spouted jugs, kymbai, ethmopyxides and pithoi. They can be classified in two groups, according to the painting technique.

The principal group (63, 69-71) is characterized by swallows painted with a thick black contour line; the belly, lower central portion of the wings and three points on the tail are painted white. As in the frescoes, the head is completely black, the throat red. Another swallow on a jug assigned to the Middle Cycladic class is very close in form to these examples (64), but distinguished from them by the absence of polychromy, a technique which is applied to other vases decorated with dolphins or capridae. As the use of applied white details is derived from the LM IA style (Marthari 1987, 378), it is very probable that this group is slightly later than the second, which remains more faithful to Middle Cycladic tradition. This second group is also characterized by a thick black contour-line, but without the addition of any other colour (72, 73).

Two sherds, whose fragmentary condition makes it uncertain whether they were polychrome, show heads of swallows similar to the examples mentioned (66-67).

A massive bird painted completely black on a pithos has head and wings apparently of a swallow, but lacks the characteristic long forked tail (65).

During the first years of the excavations at Thera, S. Marinatos, noting the similarity of the swallows on the three vases discovered at that period, saw in them the work of one workshop and even of a single artist, who was named the 'Master of the Swallows' (S. Marinatos 1969, 65-69). However, the vases concerned belong to the two categories described above. One may without hesitation see in these vases decorated with swallows a specific product of Thera, in view of the large number of representations of the bird in Theran art, both in wall- and vase-painting, and as clay analysis reveals a South-Cycladic provenance (Jones 1978, 474-478). Certain vases show that this style had its roots in the Middle Cycladic tradition.

Moreover, the motif is practically unknown in Aegean art outside Thera. The swallow which has sometimes been identified in a fragmentary fresco from Phylakopi (Atkinson et al. 1904, 74, Fig. 61) should more probably be a griffin (Hood 1978, 53 n. 45). Only a gold leaf and a diadem from Grave Circle A at Mycenae are decorated with swallows in repoussé, but the form of the first is very stiff and of the second very stylized (Karo 1930, 47, no. 24, Pl. XXI; 73, no. 234, Pl. XXXVII). A swallow may also be represented on an MM III seal which shows the profile of a graceful bird flying in front of a branch, rather in the manner of the swallow on the south wall of Delta 2 (CMS II 2, 43).

On the other hand, a high-spouted jug from grave Gamma at Mycenae and a vase fragment from Phylakopi, both decorated with swallows, are certainly from Thera and attest to a certain diffusion of the island's products (Mylonas 1973, 57, Pl. 44a; Atkinson et al. 1904, 10, Fig. 92).

Paradoxically, the swallows, whose behaviour the Theran painters of the Bronze Age so faithfully observed and reproduced, have today deserted the island.

Besides the remarkable series of vases already studied, there is a quantity of pottery decorated with other types of birds which do not always have the elegance or naturalism of the swallows. This is the more interesting since representations of birds are rare in Minoan pottery before the Palace style, as we have seen, with the notable exception of the fragment of a jug from Gournia dated to MM I/II showing a water-bird with long legs painted in dark-on-light technique (Walberg 1983, 61, Pl. 49, 25: 3). Cycladic pottery at the end of Middle and beginning of Late Bronze is thus exceptional. Unfortunately only fragments of the Theran examples are preserved, and the published sherds show only heads or parts of wings, always very schematic (2-12). The head is generally drawn in outline with a round eye, while a single wing is represented by parallel marks above the body. This manner of representing birds, in matt black paint on an unburnished ground, is typical of a group of vases found especially at Phylakopi on Milos (Atkinson et al. 1904, 118-121, Pl. XXI) and the Temple Repositories at Knossos (Evans 1921, 556-561, Fig. 404-405); identical vases are also attested at Ayia Irini in Kea, Marathon (Plasi), Athens, perhaps at Kirrha, and at Pyrgos (Davis 1976, 81-82 and n. 4). All belong to the White Cycladic class. The absence of the bird's body in the published fragments from Thera leaves uncertain whether the Black-and-Red style, in which the birds are characterized by a red disc which fills the round body, is attested in Thera. This style is found on the following types of vessels: high-spouted jugs, hole-mouthed jars and round-mouthed jugs. The production centre of these vases, which had a fairly wide distribution, was probably Phylakopi on Milos, where they were popular at the end of Middle and beginning of Late Cycladic (Scholes 1956, 20-21; Barber 1978, 376; 1987, 148-149; Mylonas 1973, 303-304). Clay analysis has not invalidated this theory though it has not yet succeeded in distinguishing Milian from Theran products (Jones 1978, 476-479).

A high-spouted jug from Thera is decorated with quite different birds (2). These are stylized: the body in elongated almond-shape painted red, with two antithetic pairs of parallel curved lines representing wings and legs. A jug from Samikon and a sherd from Kea provide representations which are almost identical to the peculiar stylization of the Theran bird (Ialouris 1965, 11, no. 3, Pl. A; Cummer and Schofield 1984, 80, Pl. 60 a). These three examples form part of a group of vases where the birds are done in bichrome on a polished ground, and which belong to the MH matt-painted polychrome class, mainland style. Vases of this group are found at Mycenae, Asine, Korakou. Marathon (Plasi) and Milos (Davis 1976, 82, n. 8; for the example from Asine, see now Dietz 1980, 33. no. 23, 84, Fig. 26, 28). These birds are undoubtedly an LH I mainland imitation of the Milian model previously examined. The clay analysis of vases of this group, and notably those from Thera shows that they are not of Cycladic origin (Jones 1978, 478-479).

A new type of bird decoration was thus evolved by Theran and Milian vase-painters, perhaps forming two contemporary workshops, towards the end of Middle and beginning of Late Bronze. At Thera they preferred polychromy and the elegance of the swallow; in Milos, bichromy and schematization. This new style was popular both on the mainland and in Crete, where the motif had been previously unknown in pottery; on the mainland its success seems to have been greater. The jug from grave Nu at Mycenae is regarded as a Milian import (Mylonas 1973, 166-167, 302, Pl. 143a-b); but as we have seen, the mainland also evolved its own version of the bird motif in Black-and-Red technique, and many representations of birds on the vases from Grave Circle B at Mycenae are clearly inspired by Cycladic models (Mylonas 1973, nos. K 109, O 300, T 31). It was in their representations of birds that Cycladic artists expressed their originality, and those of Thera their mastery of technique.

DOLPHINS AND OTHER FISHES

Before embarking on a study of the dolphin, something must be said of other representations of fish, notably the fishermen's catch from room 5 of the West House. The motif of the fisherman in Aegean art has been examined by J. Sakellarakis (1974, 370-390). As for representations of fish, M. Gill has convincingly identified the different types contained in the catch, which the artists painted from life: the fisherman on the north wall carries dolphin fish (coryphaena hippurus) (51), and the other on the west wall mackerel (scomber scombrus) and a fish of mixed characteristics (50) (Gill 1985, 63-65).

Such detailed representations of fish are rare, but it is possible to recognize the dolphin fish on a sealing from Knossos (Evans 1928, Fig. 202b) and a seal (CMS X, 247), and the mackerel on another sealing from the Temple Repositories at Knossos (Gill 1985, 71, Fig. 10).

In the miniature frieze of the Fleet from the same room at Thera, dolphins cut the sea, leaping and diving around the ships (37). The dolphin also appears frequently in polychrome technique on a dozen vases from Thera, as part of a marine landscape which varies from extreme naturalism in rocks and plants, to extreme simplification consisting of only a few features and/or lines (32-35, 38-43). The types of vases decorated in this way are varied: jug, bowl, teapot, tripod-stand and kymbe. A pithos has an unexpected scene in which dolphins, birds and a bull appear together in a naturalistic decor (36). This strange association is not at all frequent: two Theran kymbai may be cited, with dolphins on one face, capridae on the other (28-29).

The most naturalistic representations of dolphins are in the Miniature Fresco. The arched bodies are reproduced with great suppleness. Back and belly are normally shown in different colors blue, yellow or red; and with the exception of one example, are separated by an undulating motif either of a single black line, or more often of a single or generally double line in white, yellow or blue. The outline is marked by a contour line.

The dolphins on the tripod-stand (42) are very close to those just mentioned. The technique of painting on plaster is obviously related to wall-painting. Here blue and yellow have been replaced by more unusual colours, brown, pink and red. The dolphins on the vases are more simply represented in black, and the undulating lines on the flanks reduced to ornamental white lines often surrounding the eyes. Finally, the dolphins on the pithos mentioned above are stylized and have lost all flexibility.

It should be noted that the swelling at the junction of body and tail, which M. Gill has rightly explained as the transition from profile to frontal aspect (Gill 1985, 69), is not systematically present on Thera.

The large number of dolphin representations does not imply that this motif is exclusive to Theran art, like capridae or swallows, though the polychrome technique used on the vases is characteristic of Theran pottery.

The dolphin was a frequent source of inspiration for the monumental art of wall-painting. The best-known example is the group of dolphins from the Palace of Knossos. Despite its fragmentary state, it is evident that the creatures were marked by a black contour-line, and had a dark blue back with white belly, separated by an undulating line of yellow to range edged in black. Their rather stiff appearance may be compared to those of the Theran tripod-stand. Though dated by A. Evans to MM III or LM IA (Evans 1921, 543-544; 1930, 377-381), this fresco is attributed nowadays rather to LM IIIA (for example, Hawk Smith 1976, 73-74; Koehl 1986, 411-413). This date is closer to that of the painted floor at Ayia Triada, showing dolphins which are stylistically very similar, and also possess a kind of beak. The shape of the fins is more imaginary than real (Hirsch 1977, 10-11, Pl. I).

Certain decorated floors from the Mycenaean palaces of Tiryns and Pylos are divided into panels, in which dolphins appear with other motives (Hirsch 1977, 27, 32-33, 35, 38-39, 40-41, Pl. 9, 12-13).

The nearest chronological parallel, though slightly later, is a Late Cycladic/LM IB miniature fresco from Ayia Irini in Kea (Coleman 1973, 293-296, Fig. 2, Pl. 56b). There, too, a school of dolphins can be seen leaping against an empty background. The technique, however, is more simplified. The normal undulating line along the flanks has become a horizontal blue or yellow band on bodies painted yellow, blue or pink. Traces of a black contour-line are preserved.

In all the preceding examples dolphins form the main motif, but in the Miniature Fresco from Thera, they are only one of the motifs in the scene of the fleet. Such a composition is not unique: dolphins are also associated with ships on the poorly-preserved fragment of a miniature fresco from Ayia Irini in Keos (Abramovitz 1980, 62, 66, no. 97, Pl. 6c). The colours of the dolphins are blue and yellow-orange. The same features are found on the fragments of a stone vase with relief decoration from Epidaurus, dated to LH IIIA (Sakellariou 1971, 3-14; Lambrinoudakis 1975, 172-173, Pl. 149a).

The dolphins of the Fleet fresco appear to be the earliest representations of the creature in Aegean monumental art. We must examine whether the situation is the same in the other arts, notably pottery, where the motif of the dolphin was often employed by Theran artists.

In Cretan vase-painting, it is not until the naturalistic style that the dolphin can be certainly distinguished from other representations of fish, which are relatively rare before the Marine style. The few exceptions are the very schematic examples on vases from East Crete, dated to MM IB-IIA (Walberg 1983, 60, motif 24 (ix) 1-5, Pl. 49), the fish near a net on the famous pithos in Kamares style from Phaistos (Walberg 1976, 68, motif 25 (v), 5, Fig. 48).

In MM III the first representations of dolphins appear on two vases from Pachyammos, but these are isolated (Walberg 1983, 61, 126, motif 25 7-8, Pl. 50). The Marine style furnishes examples, such as the rather schematic dolphin on the rhyton from Pseira (Betancourt 1985, Pl. 20A). The motif also appears in the Palace style of LM II, as a fragment from Knossos shows (Evans 1935, 304, Fig. 239).

In the Cyclades, the dolphin was a popular motif at the transition from Middle to Late Bronze. Numerous Milian vases are decorated with fish, sometimes in Black-and-Red technique (Atkinson et al. 1904, 121, Fig. 93, 113, Pl. XVI.21, XVIII. 17, XIX.3, XXI.6?, 15). Here the dolphins are easily recognizable (Atkinson et al. 1904, Fig. 93, Pl. XVI.21, XXI.15).

In Mycenaean pottery fish are relatively infrequent, and here no dolphins can be identified (Furumark 1972, 193-194, 302, motif 20, Fig. 48; Vermeule and Karageorghis 1982, 7, 105-106, 117-119).

In glyptic art the appearance of fish and dolphins is earlier. The first representation of fish goes back to EM III on a seal from Viannos (CMS II 1, 446), and a dolphin can already be recognized, despite stylization, on a seal dated to MM II (Yule 1980, 135, no. 6). However, it is not until the following period that fine naturalistic representations begin (Kenna 1960, nos. 191, 203); they are very close to those of wall-painting. The dolphin remained a favourite motif of Late Minoan and Mycenaean glyptic art (Younger 1988, 206-208).

The motif was also used in relief decoration. An earthenware jug from quartier Mu at Mallia has a relief decoration consisting of a cat, plants and elements of Marine life, including a dolphin (Foster 1982, 87-88, 92-93, 112). However it is the cylindrical stand of the later (MM III) vase from Phaistos which provides one of the most naturalistic representations in a marinescape (Foster 1982, 92. 112, Pl. 40). A fragment of a steatite vase from Knossos is also decorated with a dolphin (Evans 1928, 504, Fig. 308).

The motif seems to have been very popular on the mainland from the beginning of Late Bronze. No Mycenaean wall-painting from this period is extant, but two inlaid dagger blades, one from Prosymna, the other from Pharai (Blegen 1937, 330-331, Fig. 420-421, Col. Pl. II facing p. 330; Papadopoulos 1979, 167, Fig. 321a-b, 357), give an idea of its pictorial use. The dolphins, which are close to those of Thera, show a similar suppleness in their spring, especially on the dagger from Prosymna. A gold cup from grave III at Mycenae has a relief decoration of dolphins which are also very similar (Karo 1930, 54, no. 73, Fig. 95, Pl. CIII). Some applied representations of dolphins also appear on shell of an ostrich egg from grave V at the same site (Karo 1930, 146, no. 828, Pl. CXLI). On a low gold cup from Dendra, dolphins much less slender than the above form part of a marine decor together with octopuses (Persson 1931, 31-32, Fig. 25, Pl. IX-XI; Hurwit 1979). The dolphin on fragments of a stone vase from Epidaurus may also be recalled, as well as the small terracotta example dated to LH IIIB (?) from Ayia Irini (Caskey 1962, Pl. 101e).

If the dolphin appears in Cretan iconography, it is nonetheless rare. However, the motif was very popular in Cycladic art, both wall- and vase-painting, at the end of Middle and beginning of Late Bronze. As the Black-and-Red and polychrome techniques are generally Cycladic, it is not unreasonable to see here a characteristic Cycladic motif. It was no doubt as a result of Cycladic influence that the motif had a certain popularity at the beginning of the Mycenaean period. Thereafter it is limited to the decoration of painted floors and seals.

INSECTS

Two types of insects figure in the wall-paintings of Thera, but both are indirect representations, in so far as the first, butterflies, form the emblem of many of the vessels in the Miniature Fresco (22), while the second constitute the beads of the goddess's necklace in Xeste 3 (44). These were at first interpreted as bees (S. Marinatos 1974, 33), then with more probability as dragon-flies (Televantou 1984, 41-42; N. Marinatos 1984, 68-70).

As regards the former motif, we leave on one side the geometric motif of two triangles opposed at the apex, in which some commentators have seen the scheme of a butterfly (Evans 1921, 75, 108; 1935, 84 n. 2), and concentrate on the more or less naturalistic examples. The form of the wings, which always contain one or more circles, presents two varieties, both illustrated in Thera. Either the wings are more or less pointed with a smooth contour, or they have a scalloped edge. Representations of butterflies can be divided into two further groups according to the point of view adopted by the artist. The first, which is the more frequent, includes those executed from a frontal aspect: examples - naturalistic, schematic or stylized - come both from Crete and the mainland (Levi 1926, 93. no. 29-30, Fig. 53-54; Bielefeld 1968, 23-24; Evans 1928, Fig. 514-515; CMS II 3, 46, 237; VIII 152; Xenaki-Sakeliariou 1958, 50, no. 329, Pl. VI; Sargnon 1987, 277; Karo 1930, 43, no. 2, 4, Pl. XXVIII, 51, no. 49, 51, Pl. XXVI, XVII, 56, no. 82, Pl. XXXIV; CMS I, 270; V, 677c; VIII, 152). The later aspect, though less often shown, gives the butterfly a more natural pose (Kenna 1960, no. 302.; Levi 1926, 95, no. 35, Fig. 58; Platon 1971, Fig. p. 148; Tzavella 1968, 263 Pl. NST; Sargnon 1987. 155 n. 341). This motif was mainly employed in the minor arts: glyptic, precious metal, and small ivory sculpture. However, we possess a very decorative example in a wall-painting from the palace of Knossos: the butterfly, shown in frontal aspect, has a blue body and yellow antennae, and three superimposed pairs of wings, coloured respectively yellow, blue and yellow marked with a large red spot (Evans 1928, 787-788, Fig. 514). In spite of the number of examples, the motif did not become popular in Aegean iconography before the Neopalatial period.

The dragon-flies of the Theran necklace were painted in their most characteristic and recognizable attitude, that is, seen from above, with their long pairs of wings stretched either side of the body. However, the theme is rare in Aegean art: representations known to me are limited to glyptic art, where the insect is generally shown facing a butterfly (CMS I, 270; II 3, 237; V 2, 677c; Betts 1984, 193, Misc 1, PI. 187a?). Here it is represented from the same aspect as in the Theran beads. The idea of borrowing the motif for a bead from the insect world is not unique; bees inspired the artists of the famous pendant from Mallia, and some beads from Peristeria (Sargnon 1987, 273).

CONCLUSION

As we have seen, fauna formed a frequent source of inspiration for the Theran artists - painters, potters, goldsmiths, etc. - who took models from each form of animal life: mammals, birds, fishes and even insects. However, they never evolved a specialized animal style such as the Marine style in Minoan pottery. If the place reserved to the animal representation is very important in Theran art, the same phenomenon, though to a lesser extent, occurs in Milian and Kean art, although the pottery from this island is not usually decorated with animal motifs.

The rich animal iconographic repertoire illustrated at Thera at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age does not constitute an unexpected creation. Indeed, there are numerous antecedents in Aegean art, for if Theran Middle Cycladic art is still badly known, we find prototypes of most Theran animal subjects in Cretan Protopalatial art; some examples even go back to EM III, but the earliest figurations are rendered so schematically that identification is often difficult. Naturalistic representations are rarely anterior to MM III. So Theran animal motifs are sometimes among the first Aegean naturalistic examples. In any case, the pictorial motifs in Theran art renounce the previous ornamental character.

In Theran art, we also find representation of exotic animals or themes like monkeys, antelopes or felines stalking waterfowl, which undoubtedly are iconographic motifs borrowed from Egypt. Indeed there is evidence supporting Theran connections with the Eastern Mediterranean (Buchholz 1980). However, the figurations at Thera were apparently depicted from real life in several cases.

While animals of Theran wall-paintings often have parallels in Cretan frescoes, vase-painting shows great differences. At the transition between the Middle and Late Bronze Age, Cretan pottery is usually decorated with floral or ornamental style, but Milian and Theran vase-painters evolve original animal decoration. In both islands, figurations are executed in a technique which is unique in Aegean pottery: polychromy at Akrotiri and Black-and-Red bichromy at Phylakopi. Moreover, dolphins (with the exception of those from Pachyammos), capridae, and swallows are specific Theran motifs. These are painted on local types such as the kymbe. Once again syntax treating the whole surface as a single field is purely Cycladic. All these features belong to Cycladic tradition and suggest the existence of a very productive Theran potter's workshop with some success outside the island.

The study of the Theran animal representations clearly shows the influence of the major art of wall-painting on the polychrome pottery category, which adapted some subjects and transformed the pictorial expression into polychrome technique. The frescoes also proffered numerous models to other minor arts such as ivories, glyptic art, inlaid daggers, etc. The majority of the Theran prototypes appear in the Miniature Fresco (for example the crossing of two herds of sheep, the pursuit of deer, the stalking feline, etc.).

On the other hand, we see several iconographic themes and elements appearing at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age on the mainland where Mycenaean art is rising. I have shown elsewhere the important role played by the Cyclades in the formation of Mycenaean civilization (Vanschoonwinkel 1986). Several themes of the Cretan and Cycladic animal iconography were adopted by Mycenaean art and one of them - the pursuit of deer by a lion - is only attested at Thera in the XVIth century BC. This suggests a direct Mycenaean borrowing from Theran art. The presence of Cycladic vases on the Greek mainland - among them a Theran ewer at Mycenae - is further evidence. It is interesting to note that the Mycenaean iconographic repertoire will part with several animal motifs later during the Late Bronze Age, for example the feline stalking water-birds, and the monkey, while others, such as the duck, will become very uncommon.

To conclude this brief survey, it may be said that the animal representations in Theran art not only show the interest of the islanders in their natural environment, but also reflect several iconographic innovations.

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