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§ III.—Frescoes from the Ramp House

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2013

Extract

The pieces of fresco here described come from the so-called ‘Ramp House,’ the excavation of which was begun by Schliemann in 1876, and finished by ourselves in 1921. It lies south-east of the Grave Circle, immediately west of the Little Ramp, and east of the House of the Warrior Vase. In date it belongs to the Third Late Helladic period. Of the frescoes, many came from the ‘Megaron,’ where they were found below a floor level in a deposit dating from Late Helladic II. or earlier times; the details of the stratification will be given in a later section. Some fine fragments came from the narrow passage between the ‘Megaron’ and the Little Ramp, where they were found at approximately the same level and in a deposit of the same date and character; indeed, one or two pieces of pottery found there join pieces from the ‘Megaron.’The deposit seems to have extended to the north of the Ramp House, for it was found immediately outside the north wall, and also at the foot of the Little Ramp: both places produced fresco. That such variety and quantity of fresco should have decorated any of the buildings that preceded the Ramp House on this site seems improbable.

Type
Mycenae
Copyright
Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens 1921

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References

page 189 note 1 The Late Helladic period should perhaps be more fitly called the Mino-Helladic period, since by this time the Minoan civilisation, which had established itself on the mainland at the end of the Middle Helladic period, had spread over continental Greece. Here it developed independently of, but parallel with, Crete, at the same time absorbing the underlying mainland element, and thereby producing the difference observable between Minoan and Mycenaean culture. Nevertheless, as we speak of the Early and Middle Helladic periods, it is simpler, although possibly not strictly accurate, to speak of Late Helladic also. In any case, the adjective ‘Helladic’ refers to the provenance of objects, and not to the origin of the culture they represent.

page 190 note 1 Cp. SirEvans, Arthur, Palace of Minos, i. p. 444Google Scholar, where the suggestion is made with regard to the fresco found by Schliemann: see below.

page 190 note 2 Ἐφ. Ἀρχ., 1887, p. 160, Pl. X. 1.

page 190 note 3 Mycenae, p. 130.

page 190 note 4 Ath. Mitt, xxxvi, p. 221, Pl. IX.

page 190 note 5 Rodenwaldt, , Der Fries des Megarons von Mykenai, p. 69, n. 154, No. 9.Google Scholar

page 191 note 1 Ἐφ. Ἀρχ., 1909, p. 90, Pls. I. and II.

page 191 note 2 Rodenwaldt, , Tiryns, ii. p. 65.Google Scholar

page 191 note 3 B.S.A. vi. pp. 46–48; J.H.S. xxi. p. 192, Pl. V.

page 191 note 4 Ἐφ. Ἀρχ., 1912, Pls. XVIII.–XX.

page 191 note 5 B.S.A. vi. p. 40. I am indebted to Sir Arthur Evans for showing me the parallel.

page 191 note 6 Rodenwaldt, , Tiryns, ii. pp. 200, 201.Google Scholar

page 191 note 7 The maximum thickness is given in each case.

page 191 note 8 Fyfe, , J.R.I.B.A. x. 1903, p. 114.Google Scholar

page 191 note 9 Schliemann's, Cp. Miniature Fresco, where the outline of the red pillar is corrected in blue paint, Ath. Mitt., xxxvi, p. 221, Pl. IX.Google Scholar

page 192 note 1 Cp. also B.S.A. x. Pl. II. Fig. 14, and p. 42, 3; SirEvans, Arthur, Palace of Minos, i. p. 446.Google Scholar

page 192 note 2 The reproduction is crooked: the band below should be horizontal, that on the left, vertical.

page 192 note 3 J.H.S. xxi. Pl. V. See also Bulle, , Orchomenos, i. p. 73, Pl. XXXVIII.Google Scholar, and Holland, , A.J.A. xxi. pp. 125–8.Google Scholar

page 192 note 4 Rodenwaldt, Cp., Der Fries des Megarons von Mykenai, p. 35.Google Scholar

page 192 note 5 For arrangement of figures on two levels without ground line, see Rodenwaldt, , Tiryns, ii. p. 14.Google Scholar

page 193 note 1 J.H.S. xli. pp. 252–3.

page 193 note 2 B.S.A. vii. p. 94; Maraghiannis, , Antiquités Crétoises, iii. Pl. XV.Google Scholar

page 193 note 3 The process may, however, be the same as in the fragment with the bull from Mycenae, : Ath. Mitt. xxxvi, p. 230.Google Scholar

page 193 note 4 Rodenwaldt, , Tiryns, ii. p. 126.Google Scholar

page 193 note 5 Ath. Mitt. loc. cit.

page 193 note 6 Human figures are always small in relation to the bull: see B.S.A. vii. 94.

page 194 note 1 SirEvans, Arthur, Palace of Minos, i. p. 444.Google Scholar Our fresco may have been divided into blue and yellow panels, and thus resembled the reconstruction of the ‘Fresco of the Female Toreadors’ with panels of boxers proposed by Rodenwaldt, , Der Fries des Megarons von Mykenai, p. 19.Google Scholar

page 194 note 2 Cp. bronze statuette from Tylissos, , Ἐφ. Ἀρχ., 1912, Pl. XVIIGoogle Scholar, and gold ring from Mycenae, , J.H.S. xxi. p. 189Google Scholar, Fig. 63.

page 194 note 3 It is also possible to interpret the white object as the arm of a woman dancer, with her fingers on the man's wrist, part of the hand having flaked off.

page 194 note 4 Ἐφ. Ἀρχ., 1912, Pls. XVIII.–XX.

page 194 note 5 SirEvans, Arthur, Palace of Minos, i. Fig. 397, p. 545–7.Google Scholar

page 194 note 6 Rodenwaldt, , Tiryns, ii. Pl. VIII. pp. 6994.Google Scholar

page 194 note 7 Ἐφ. Ἀρχ., 1909, p. 90, Pls. I. II.

page 194 note 8 Athens, Nat. Mus. 1013–15; Rodenwaldt, , Der Fries des Megarons von Mykenai, p. 69, n. 154, No. 9.Google Scholar

page 194 note 9 For use of light blue see Tiryns, ii. p. 6.

page 195 note 1 Seager, Pseira, Pl. V.

page 195 note 2 Ath. Mitt. xxxvi, p. 221, Pl. IX.

page 195 note 3 The reproduction is slightly crooked; the stripes should be horizontal.

page 195 note 4 See p. 191.

page 195 note 5 B.S.A. vi., p. 40.

page 195 note 6 Vases from Tiryns (Schliemann, : Tiryns, Pls. XIV. XVII.bGoogle Scholar) show spots and lines somewhat resembling those of No. 14.

page 196 note 1 The reproduction is slightly crooked.

page 196 note 2 Schliemann, , Tiryns, p. 302, Pl. X. b, c.Google Scholar

page 196 note 3 Rodenwaldt, , Tiryns, ii. p. 162.Google Scholar

page 196 note 4 The reproduction is crooked: the whole band should be horizontal.

page 196 note 5 Seager, Cp., Pseira, Pl. V.Google Scholar

page 196 note 6 SirEvans, Arthur, Palace of Minos, i. p. 550.Google Scholar

page 197 note 1 See p. 191.

page 197 note 2 See also Rodenwaldt, , Tiryns, ii. Pls. III. 8, VI. 1.Google Scholar

page 197 note 3 B.S.A. vi. pp. 13, 15.

page 197 note 4 Ἐφ. Ἀρχ., 1912, Pl. 18β. I am indebted to Dr. Xanthoudides for kindly giving me information concerning the Tylissos fresco.

page 197 note 5 E.g. vase from Thebes, , Ἐφ. Ἀρχ., 1910. Pl. X. 2.Google Scholar

page 198 note 1 B.S.A. x. p. 42; Rodenwaldt, , Tiryns, ii. p. 28.Google Scholar

page 198 note 2 Ἐφ. Ἀρχ., 1887, Pl. XII.

page 198 note 3 See SirEvans, Arthur, Palace of Minos, i. p. 356.Google Scholar

page 199 note 1 J.R.I.B.A. x. 1903, p. 110.

page 199 note 2 Rodenwaldt, , Tiryns, ii. p. 63.Google Scholar

page 199 note 3 SirEvans, Arthur, Palace of Minos, i. p. 548.Google Scholar