Mycenaean art is the art of Bronze Age mainland Greece, seen at its richest at Mycenae, the leading centre that gives the whole civilization its name. It gathers goldwork, wall frescoes, painted pottery, carved gems, ivory and worked bronze into one confident style. The shaft graves of Mycenae yielded gold funerary masks, inlaid daggers, cups … Read more
The Warrior Vase is one of the best-known works of Mycenaean art, a painted pottery krater found at the citadel of Mycenae. Heinrich Schliemann discovered it near the great fortress, and it dates to the late Bronze Age. The vessel is a large mixing bowl for wine. Painters covered it with a file of helmeted … Read more
Thrapsano is a large inland village in the Pediada region of the Heraklion district, east of Heraklion town. The village earned its reputation across the island as a place of potters. Families throw giant storage jars called pithoi here alongside everyday earthenware, and the clay tradition reaches back through generations. It echoes the huge Minoan … Read more
Margarites sits on a hillside in the Rethymno region of central Crete, a small village where the ancient craft of pottery still shapes daily life. Family workshops line the narrow lanes, their wheels turning out tall storage jars and decorative ceramics using techniques passed down through generations. Stone houses climb the slope between flower-filled alleys, … Read more