M i s t r e s s O f A n i m a l s And S a f f r o n G a t h e r e r
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5
Xeste 3,
Room 3a, first floor, North Wall
H: 2.30 / W: 3.22 m
The northern wall depicts a crocus-filled landscape. Here, a third female figure empties crocus stamens from her basket into a larger holding vessel. We can assume that she is a third saffron-gatherer. To the right, seated upon a stepped pedestal, is a fourth female figure. Positioned well above the other three females, this woman is richly dressed, adorned with an assortment of jewelry.
Animal themes and motifs decorate this central figure; she wears two necklaces, one with duck beads and the other with a dragonfly motif and on her head, a snake-like band. In front of her is a blue monkey climbing up the pedestal, holding outstretched a posy of crocuses. At her side sits a Griffin. The Griffin, half-lion half-eagle, is a mythical creature long associated with majesty and power.
Placed on this ‘podium’ in the midst of real and mythical animals, academics have interpreted the woman as a divinity and thus named her the ‘Mistress of Animals’. It is possible that this wall-painting depicts a religious celebration, the offering of the crocus harvest to the Nature Goddess.
While this wall-painting seems to depict elements of the divine, the act of saffron gathering is firmly rooted in reality and represents ancient traditions of dyeing, of fine perfume and pharmacology.