Introduction

The Power of Images: Re-Examining the Wall Paintings From the Throne Room at Knossos

“…Our conservation project also included the griffin frescoes from the west wall. As with the ‘palm tree’ fresco, here too the Neopalatial ancestry of the griffin in its role as a guardian animal appear to have merged in LM II with the novelty of its rendering: a wingless creature with floral ornamentation – a true Herrschaftsemblem according to Blakolmer's (2011) interpretation. It is this spirit of innovation, on the one hand, and of signs of Neopalatial conservatism, on the other, that makes the ‘palm fresco’ and the Throne Room composition as a whole one of the most significant moments in the history of Aegean art.…”

“…Following her discovery, Shank put forward two interpretations: that this fragment showed either a raised crest or a wingtip (on the latter see Shank 2003, 132–7; Shank 2007, 162–4, fig. 19:5; also Blakolmer 2011). 18…”

“… 30 Blakolmer (2011, 67–8) thinks that the cross-hatching was made in order to create an imitation of stucco relief, which he believes to have formed an antecedent of the Throne Room fresco. …”

“… 45 The symmetric arrangement, rare as it was among Neopalatial ritual scenes, gained particular popularity in glyptic art in the so-called heraldic schemes from LM I, and especially LM II onwards. Blakolmer (2011, 73) acknowledges carefully that the emblematic compositions only became more common from LM II onwards. …”