Aegean pottery’s most original styles date to this period. Wall paintings undoubtedly played a role in the transformation of pictorial techniques and the repertoire of motifs. Vase painting nonetheless stands apart: it is the only non-figurative art of this period. Octopuses, dolphins, and other marine animals, though present in the Protopalatial period, only feature rarely, or late on (Late Minoan (LM) IB), in the Cretan repertoire. Cycladic pottery, with its depictions of birds, quadrupeds, and sometimes people, is an exception.

Distinct styles are associated with the three main phases of the Neopalatial period. In Middle Minoan (MM) III white-on-dark decoration still predominates, and continues the Kamares tradition, even if the influence of frescoes can already be observed in the development of naturalistic themes. The beginning of LM I is marked by decoration that is now produced in dark on light.