An Essay

Archaeological Institute of America is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to American Journal of Archaeology.

http://www.jstor.org

The Swallows and Artists of Room Delta 2 at Akrotiri, Thera Author(s): Mary B. Hollinshead Source: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 93, No. 3 (Jul., 1989), pp. 339-354 Published by: Archaeological Institute of America Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/505585 Accessed: 12-11-2015 18:45 UTC

REFERENCES Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article:

http://www.jstor.org/stable/505585?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents

You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

This content downloaded from 169.231.155.210 on Thu, 12 Nov 2015 18:45:23 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

The Swallows and Artists of Room Delta 2 at Akrotiri, Thera*

MARY B. HOLLINSHEAD

Abstract The "Spring Fresco" in Room 2 (the "Room of the

Lilies") of Building Delta at Akrotiri, Thera is examined as an intact fresco with a known context. Art historical information is used to complement archaeological evi- dence and vice versa. The swallows and lilies of Delta 2 are attributed to two artists. The painter of the swallows is identified stylistically, and frescoes in Building Beta (antelopes) and Xeste 3 (swallow, young women) are at- tributed to his hand. Archaeological evidence indicates that these frescoes were all painted after the earthquake of Late Cycladic I. In the light of both furnishings and decoration, Delta 2 is interpreted as a secure domicile for an important person rather than a religious chamber.

The "Spring Fresco," covering three walls of Room

2, the "Room of the Lilies," of Building Delta at Akro-

tiri, Thera is a rare example of a nearly intact Aegean Bronze Age wall painting found in situ. The painting is sufficiently well preserved to permit analysis of its

subject and style without troubling questions of resto-

ration; and its exact location and archaeological con- text are known and documented. In addition, the nu- merous frescoes found in nearby structures at Akrotiri

provide a significant body of comparanda, an artistic context for the paintings of Delta 2. The excavations and restoration work of the Greek Archaeological Ser- vice have provided us with more information than is available for most Aegean frescoes, so that one can seek a more complete understanding as to why Room Delta 2 was painted as it was, with swallows in acro-

batic flight above a rocky landscape covered with red lilies.

This study begins by considering the swallows, the

primary subject of the painting, and continues with

questions of painting methods and artistic style. Two artists apparently worked on this fresco-one painted the swallows, another the lilies. The painter of swal- lows in Delta 2 is identified stylistically, and frescoes in Building Beta and Xeste 3 are attributed to his hand. Archaeological evidence indicates that all the

paintings associated with this artist were produced after a major earthquake, as part of the reconstruction and redecoration of the town of Akrotiri. The activi- ties of an individual painter are thus described, and located in space and time.

Finally, the question of Delta 2's meaning is ad- dressed. The architecture and furnishings of the room are unremarkable compared with the fine painting on its walls. Since Delta 2 is often interpreted as a shrine, the iconography of its decoration is considered. The red lilies are seen as potentially significant, but not

necessarily predictive of a religious function for Delta 2. Instead of a naturalistic setting for cult practice, Delta 2 is best understood as a safe and aesthetically pleasing environment for an important person. Identi-

fying the artist who painted the walls of Delta 2, as well as how, where, and when this artist worked, not

only allows us an unusually complete assessment of an individual Bronze Age painter, but also suggests a

* A short version of part of this paper was presented at the 89th General Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, New York, 29 December 1987. Cf. AJA 92 (1988) 253-54. I am grateful to S.A. Immerwahr for her comments on an earlier version of this article. The opinions expressed herein and any errors are the sole responsibility of the au- thor. The National Archaeological Museum in Athens pro- vided photographs for Figs. 1-3, 6-8, and 10; all other pho- tographs were taken from published illustrations by Brooke Hammerle. The plan in Fig. 16 was drawn by Mary G. Winkes.

The following abbreviations are used: Doumas, C. Doumas, Thera: Pompeii of the An-

Thera/Pompeii cient Aegean (New York 1983).

TA W I, II C. Doumas ed., Thera and the Aegean World I, II (London 1978, 1980).

Thera II S. Marinatos, Excavations at Thera II (1968 Season) Athens 1969.

Thera III S. Marinatos, Excavations at Thera III (1969 Season) Athens 1970.

Thera IV S. Marinatos, Excavations at Thera IV (1970 Season) Athens 1971.

Thera V S. Marinatos, Excavations at Thera V (1971 Season) Athens 1972.

Thera VI S. Marinatos, Excavations at Thera VI (1972 Season) Athens 1974.

Thera VII S. Marinatos, Excavations at Thera VII (1973 Season) Athens 1976.

339 American Journal of Archaeology 93 (1989)

This content downloaded from 169.231.155.210 on Thu, 12 Nov 2015 18:45:23 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

340 MARY B. HOLLINSHEAD [AJA 93

~~~~~i~ij~:~~~L~i~~~~~

~~~5~~~:~:~-~~~~___~_~9__ -iiiiip~aii'i;i ~:-::i ,_:ii~~-~-~_-_~~_~_~,r-~~~ i~iiiiiiii---i~ i:ii: ii~iiiniii-ii - i::-~i~?i---:li:?i- ii-i ii:r,~i -i: ~--- ; -ii- i-i~-~ - -----:i:~~?:-::?_:?:?-~ :?1

.---

:: : ' ::-::: : : : : -

~~:1:II~II1~1:I! ~ii :- -_ ::::-::::::._:: -~~~i~~ :-:::~

:-:-::::-

~~~""~~ 'I

i i i-iii ..... I:---i -

-~::: i :: -;-:--

~-~? ";~~~ i-I 6: . : i-? _iii -i: ~

.::-: ::::: -- -'-: ?- -i :_??.-"

- .. - :1: _ :-'

: ia-9--~ IliR: 9 -

~~~~--::~i~ _~~-~~~ -:-:-:r:::::::i: _~:: ::~~~:::--~::::-:-i sn-. -i~-i;:~:-::~~~:;;i;:: i::i~-i~i,-:i~--a : :_:~-:~~::,:_"-~::-::i:: :_;- i:::::;::1:~-::-:-

.~i -i--- i:iiil ;:i::l::::r;:::::' i~~iiaii~-;i--i, :- :: _----~:i- ii ?

:-::

;:?-:Li:!--~i-~?i-a--i-: iiiii.:li::?::i ::--::;::::::;-:: 5.~?

Fig. 1. Delta 2: west and south walls. (Courtesy National Archaeological Museum, Athens)

new explanation for the decoration of the small cham- ber with lyrical scenes of swallows among the lilies.

THE SWALLOWS OF DELTA 2: ART AND NATURE

Room 2 of Building Delta at Akrotiri is the finest, fullest example of a painting of swallows known from antiquity.' Although more paintings of swallows have been found on Thera than at any other site of the Ae- gean Bronze Age, it is ironic that no swallows now inhabit the island.2 Nevertheless, so many of the swal- low paintings from Thera exhibit the artists' aware- ness of characteristic plumage, body form, and behav- ior that I believe we can assume there were swallows on Thera ca. 1500 B.C. Marinatos suggested that the volcanic eruption drove them away; Doumas has ob- served that the eruption would have left behind ash ill suited for nest-making.3 Obliteration of the local envi-

ronment by the heavy ash fall would also have elimi- nated the swallows' food supply. Once the island was covered with ash, there would have been a critical gap in time before insects appeared in sufficient quantity again to sustain a swallow's energetic existence.

The swallow's grace and agility in flight clearly ap- pealed to the painter of the Delta 2 swallows. His acute observation of bird behavior is also evident. Al- though landscape elements in the form of variegated rock formations sprouting clusters of tall, red lilies dominate the composition of Delta 2, the swallows are the focal points of the painting, which extends over three of the four walls of the room (fig. 1). Flying among and above the oversize red lilies, alone or in pairs, the swallows are rendered simply, in spare sweeping strokes. The shape of their wings and the two-pronged tail identifies them as hirundo rustica

I Thera IV, 20-25, 34-44, 49-53; pls. 28-40, 101-108, 121-26, and color pls. A-C. Thera V, 20-21, 44-45. Thera VI, 10-13, pls. 10b, 12, 13a. Thera VII, 13, pls. 1 lb-12. Cf. S. Marinatos, A Brief Guide to the Temporary Exhibition of

the Antiquities of Thera (Athens 1971) 16-19; figs. 4-6; color pl. B. Also, TAW I color pls. A-D.

2 Thera IV, 51-52. 3 Thera IV, 51-52. Doumas, Thera/Pompeii 81.

This content downloaded from 169.231.155.210 on Thu, 12 Nov 2015 18:45:23 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

348 MARY B. HOLLINSHEAD [AJA 93

, i i . ... ............

?? I i, ' • ....-

i~ ~~ ~ ........

•ir'ii •i~ii •:: .......... ................................................

; .. . ... .. i!4i•!i!!!!!•

Fig. 14. Xeste 3.3: wounded young woman seated on a rock, north wall, first floor. (After Thera VII, pl. 64)

gers of the girl about to pluck the blossom of that

plant, revealing the same practice of painting flowers last that we observed in Room Delta 2.

The painter of our swallows, antelopes, and young women is a superb draftsman. His work is all in his line. The line is bold and tapering, then fine and deli-

cate, in close juxtaposition. Red paint is added only to

pick out minor details. Polychromy was apparently left to other painters. Foreshortening clearly intrigues this artist, who uses overlapping lines to articulate

complex poses and to create pictorial depth. Commu- nication between birds or animals, as well as people, is

emphasized through pose. The swallows of Delta 2 and at least one young woman of Xeste 3.3 were

painted before the flowers, suggesting that painters

may have specialized according to subject. Further ex- amination of the walls on which our attributed fres- coes were painted, and their respective archaeological contexts, indicates a consistent sequence of production for all.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT

The archaeological record provides some corrobo- ration of our stylistic comparisons (fig. 16). One or more severe earthquakes caused significant damage to the town at Akrotiri early in LC I, after which fol- lowed a phase of demolishing dangerous walls, repair- ing and rebuilding others; this phase was cut short by the catastrophic volcanic eruption.27 The length of time between earthquake and eruption is not known.

::ii

-

iii•

-i:::iiiii

;_-~i

!i•iiii !i i~i~ i, i-iiiii, i

-` ?ii:i;; ii-- --;i

?iiii.: i iiiii 1i::: iP :-:-:iii:';-;:i;--- ;";";;""';;;;

. .. .... .. .. .. ii y ,

Fig. 15. Xeste 3.3: young woman with spotted veil, north wall, first floor. (After Thera VII, pl. 58)

27 Doumas, Thera/Pompeii 134-35. C. Doumas, "The Stratigraphy of Akrotiri," in TAW I, 780-82. C. Doumas, "The Minoan Eruption of the Santorini Volcano," Anti- quity 48 (1974) 110-15. C. Doumas, "Late Bronze Age En- gineering in the Aegean," AAA 7 (1974) 365-70. Cf. S. Ma- rinatos, "Life and Art in Prehistoric Thera," ProcBritAc 57 (1971) 359-61. Also Thera III, 64-65. Thera V, 20, 27, 44-46, pl. 37a. For architectural evidence of this sequence,

see C. Palyvou, "The Destruction of the Town at Akrotiri, Thera at the Beginning of LC I: Rebuilding Activities," in J.A. MacGillivray and R.L.N. Barber eds., The Prehistoric Cyclades. Contributions to a Workshop on Cycladic Chrono- logy (Edinburgh 1984) 134-47. For the ceramic sequence, see M. Marthari, "The Destruction of the Town at Akroti- ri, Thera, at the Beginning of LC I: Definition and Chro- nology," also in MacGillivray and Barber, 119-33.

This content downloaded from 169.231.155.210 on Thu, 12 Nov 2015 18:45:23 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

1989] THE SWALLOWS AND ARTISTS OF ROOM DELTA 2 AT AKROTIRI, THERA 349

WEST HOUSE

I

..

BUILDING DELTA

BUILDING BETA

XESTE 3

0 100 1000 2000m I I I

Fig. 16. Akrotiri. Plan of southern sector of the excavation. Rooms referred to in text are shaded. (After Doumas, Thera/Pom- peii 46-47, fig. 5. Drawing by Mary G. Winkes)

Doumas and Palyvou have described the widespread and extensive nature of the recovery effort, which

probably took years of work.28 The contexts of the

frescoes in Delta 2 and Beta 1 and elsewhere indicate that restoration work had proceeded in several places to the stage of repainting interior walls. Each room

28 Doumas, in TA W II (discussion) 344, proposed "a con- siderable period of time" for this interval, based on mixed MC and LC I pottery in the destruction debris from the

earthquake. Cf. supra n. 27: Doumas, TAW I, 1974a and b; Palyvou; and Marthari.

This content downloaded from 169.231.155.210 on Thu, 12 Nov 2015 18:45:23 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

350 MARY B. HOLLINSHEAD [AJA 93

painted by our artist had been reworked or was un- dergoing rebuilding after an earthquake and before the final eruption.

Room Delta 2 was not only remodeled, but reoccu- pied. This small (2.24 x 2.60 m) ground floor room was originally built with a polythyron on the east wall. Subsequently, the polythyron was closed off in such a way that a door, window, and niche occupied the wall.29 Presumably at the same time, a thin, poorly built wall of "upright wooden posts with straw and clay" was constructed across the width of the room to the north, shortening the room while forming a nar- row, closet-like space between it and the original north wall. The northern part of the fresco with swallows and lilies was painted on the plaster of the new parti- tion wall, continuing onto the west and south walls.

Less detailed information is available for Rooms 2 and 3 of Xeste 3, partly because they were located on upper floors.30 Temporary workshops with tools used in building repair were located along the south wall of Xeste 3, so that restoration was evidently in progress nearby.31 Room 1 of Building Beta was also on an up- per floor, but more of its frescoes were found in situ or close to their original location on the west, north, and east walls (the boxing boys were on the short south wall). Marinatos identified an earlier layer of painted plaster on the north wall of Beta 1 just above the flag- stone floor. He observed a black band on a substratum of older plaster behind the antelopes' feet, and red- painted older plaster beneath the antelopes further up the wall.32 The repainting of Beta 1 thus provides cir- cumstantial evidence for the antelopes as a post-earth- quake painting.33

Elsewhere at Akrotiri, Room B6 and the West House have yielded comparable evidence of reworked wall surfaces, so that a number of painters must have worked on decorating rebuilt structures. The frescoes of blue monkeys in Beta 6 covered "a substratum con-

taining entire painted fragments of an older, destroyed fresco."34 In the southwest corner of Room 4 of the West House, Marinatos identified remnants of an older wall painting (of reddish paint on a cream-col- ored background) beneath an ikrion (cabin) motif.35 He also noted a change in construction materials, from stones to "raw bricks," in the partition wall be- tween Rooms 4 and 5, indicating that it had been re- built.36 Since ikria were painted on the Room 4 side of this rebuilt partition, and the flotilla segment of the miniature fresco was painted on the Room 5 side, it follows that both the ikria and at least the miniature fresco on the south wall of Room 5 were painted after the earthquake.37 The most dramatic evidence for re- modeling right up to the final eruption comes from the adjacent Room 4a, the "bathroom," in which two broad-mouth jars in situ in the southeast corner con- tained plaster ready for use. A bowl containing red pigment was found nearby. Marinatos reported: "The upper Eastern portion of the walls were still unplas- tered; and of the plastered portions only the lower sec- tions were painted ochre-yellow to a height of about 60 cm."38 The incomplete plastering of the walls in 4a documents work in progress on the walls at the mo- ment of catastrophe.

These structural or surface repairs cannot be tied with certainty to a single seismic event. On the oth- er hand, stratigraphic and architectural evidence throughout Akrotiri consistently indicates a sequence of major destruction and rebuilding. Of the frescoes we have attributed on stylistic grounds to a single artist, the swallows and lilies in Delta 2 were painted on a partition wall added when the room was altered, while the antelopes of Beta 1 were painted over a pre- viously painted surface. (The complicated stratigra- phy of Xeste 3.2 and 3 is not yet fully published.) The painter of these naturalistic scenes must have been one of several skilled artists among the workers restoring

29 Dimensions from Marinatos (supra n. 1) 17. Rebuild- ing: Thera V, 44-45; Thera VI, 12-13.

30 Thera VI, 15-17; Thera VII, 22-28, pls. 32a, 33a. Dou- mas 1980 (supra n. 25).

31 Doumas notes (Thera/Pompeii 54) that basement workshops were common features at Akrotiri, so it is only a hypothesis that repair work was in progress in Xeste 3.

32 Thera IV, 28-33. Thera V, 45. Thera VII, 17, pl. 23b. A. Patrianakou-Iliaki, "Excavation of Wall-Paintings at the Site of Akrotiri," in TA W I, 657-60; discussion in TA W II, 311.

33 Cf. Patrianakou-Iliaki discussion (supra n. 32), in which M.A.S. Cameron inquired as to whether the rubble wall with the antelopes might be a later construction than

the wall on which the boxing boys were painted. Patriana- kou-Iliaki replied that she had not yet studied the issue but thought not.

34 Thera V, 45, pls. 91-92a. 5 Thera VI, 25-26, pls. 52-53.

36 Thera VI, 24-25, pl. 45. 37 Thera VI, 25. Flotilla: Doumas, Thera/Pompeii 105-

106. N. Marinatos (supra n. 9) 40-44. For a clear diagram of the location of paintings in Rooms 4 and 5 of the West House, see L. Morgan, "Theme in the West House Paint- ings at Thera," ArchEph 1983, 87, fig. 2.

38 Thera VI, 26-27, pls. 58b, 59a-d, color pl. 2. See also Thera VI, 10, pl. 5a-b for a large ewer full of lime (for plaster?) found in Room 7 of the House of the Ladies.

This content downloaded from 169.231.155.210 on Thu, 12 Nov 2015 18:45:23 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

1989] THE SWALLOWS AND ARTISTS OF ROOM DELTA 2 AT AKROTIRI, THERA 351

and embellishing damaged buildings after the earth-

quake and before the eruption. In addition to the

paintings of Delta 2, Beta 1, and Xeste 3.2 and 3, ar-

chaeological evidence demonstrates that the ikria of Room 4 and the "flotilla" of the miniature fresco in Room 5 of the West House must date from this post- earthquake period. The diversity of styles in this small

group of apparently contemporary frescoes demon- strates the difficulties of dating such paintings on the basis of style.39

Remodeling is not the same as repainting. Room Delta 2 holds special interest as a modest structure which was given a new architectural arrangement, and then a new surface decoration. The reconstruction of Room Delta 2 would have changed the nature of the

space in fundamental ways. Closing off the polythyron would have reduced light and ventilation just as the

partition wall shortened one side of the small chamber.

Originally a semi-detached alcove-like space flanking the larger Room Delta 18 to the east, Room Delta 2 was converted to a small, closed refuge. Then its walls were decorated with the swallows and lilies.

The furnishings and small finds of Delta 2 were

thoroughly domestic in character. Beneath a bed in the southwest corner were storage jars, some with re- mains of identifiable foodstuffs such as barley and onions (fig. 17).40 Additional large storage jars, am-

phoras, ewers and spouted pitchers, goblets, drinking cups, and a vessel tentatively identified as a chamber

pot were found along the walls of Delta 2; they may have fallen from an upper shelf. Two ceramic roasting grills and a three-legged cooking pot were discovered in the northwest corner. At the west end of the north

wall, a floor-level opening into the intramural space formed by the new partition was packed with pottery, for storage or even safekeeping. More vases, and

loomweights were found in the long narrow intra-

mural space. The metal objects of Delta 2-three sick-

les, a knife, a dagger, a large frying pan, and a lead

weight-all can be explained as mundane equipment for daily life. The contents of Delta 2 and their distri- bution are consistent with domestic use.41

MEANING OF THE DELTA 2 PAINTINGS

The modest size and humble location of Delta 2, on the ground floor, make the room an improbable set-

ting for the lyrical scenes on its walls.42 Since none of the objects and equipment of the room is demonstrably religious in nature, any interpretation of Delta 2 as a

place of special significance must be sought in the

paintings alone. As is so often true in the Minoan wall

painting tradition, the central question is whether

lyrical naturalism carries meaning beyond pleasure to the eye. The remarkably accurate portrayal of rocks, swallows, and lilies has led some scholars to postulate that a particular landscape is represented, and others to suggest that a specific time or season was in-

tended.43 The landscape's colorful crags may have

?il ''?'

iis

?;?i ;;-----iii- --i;-- -ii--??:iiiiii~PIi-:ii _;;i

iiiiiiiiiiii i ;;; ---iiii-iiiii iiiiii;iiii:iiii?iiiiii?i?iiill?iii ;;... iii ii iiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiii

,i?:;iii;(-- ;-:i:;i_- --iiiii

Fig. 17. Delta 2: Bed with storage jars beneath in situ, southwest corner. (After Thera IV, pl. 35b)

3 Cf. M.A.S. Cameron, "Theoretical Interrelations among Theran, Cretan and Mainland Frescoes," in TA WI, 579-92.

40 Thera IV, 42-43, pls. 106-108. Marinatos (supra n. 27) 360. The bed reportedly stood 0.10 m off the floor on non- specific debris (Thera IV, 24 and pl. 35). There is a clear logic to the grouping of storage jars under a bed, implying contemporary association, rather than the bed being brought in at a later date. Moreover, the entire remodeled Delta 2 may have had a floor of compacted debris from the earth- quake as elsewhere at the site. Palyvou (supra n. 27). Cf. Thera V, 22, and pl. 37a for a second floor 0.10-0.15 m above an earlier floor in Delta 16.

41 Thera IV, 20-25, 34-36, 38-45, pls. 28-41, 64c, 65, 67a, 70, 72, 75a, 76a, 77, 78a, 88b, 89, 91a, 98a, 101-108.

Thera VI, 11-13, pls. 12-13a. 42 Delta 2 is the sole ground-floor room with frescoes, ex-

cept for the "lustral basin" of Xeste 3, in which steps descend to the ground level, where there are wall paintings. Dou- mas, Thera/Pompeii 76.

43 S. Marinatos interpreted the Delta 2 landscape as a view of Thera before the eruption, Thera IV, 50, 53. O. Rackham, "The Flora and Vegetation of Thera and Crete Before and After the Great Eruption," in TAW I, 759, agrees, and further proposes a specific place "less than 1 km west of the site" which he believes provided inspiration for the Delta 2 rocks, even though the vegetation is different from the lilies in Delta 2. See also discussion, TA W II, 292. For specificity of season, infra ns. 46-48.

This content downloaded from 169.231.155.210 on Thu, 12 Nov 2015 18:45:23 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions