Aegean Art and Architecture (Oxford History of Art)

The discoveries in Crete, Greece, and the Aegean islands that began a century ago were nothing less than stunning, and seemed to give shape and substance to tales of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth, of Theseus and Ariadne, of Minos and Icarus. Ancient Aegean Art is the first comprehensive historical introduction to the art and architecture Crete, mainland Greece, and the Cycladic islands in the Aegean, beginning with the Neolithic period, before 3000 BCE, and ending at the close of the Bronze Age and the transition to the Iron Age of Hellenic Greece (c.1000 BCE). Covering a broad range of objects and artefacts, from sealstones to pots to buildings and settlements, Preziosi and Hitchcock discuss both the historiography of the field of ancient art history and explain the artefacts original intentions and functions. In chronologically organized chapters, the authors emphasize the more widely known images and structures, with a glimpse at the lesser-known but important discoveries, explaining their design, uses, meanings, and formal developments. Ancient Aegean Art incorporates the latest archeological discoveries and theoretical and methodological developments, in the only volume to examine both Crete and the mainland.