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Cyclades Islands | Santorini

Thera Wall Paintings Copies P. Nomikos Museum

The life-sized three-dimensional wall-paintings reproduced and exhibited here were sponsored by the "Thera Foundation, Petros M. Nomikos", and produced in France by Transfer Relief SA, using the Kodak Pathé process. Other similar Kodak Pathé commissions have been funded by the Getty Museum of California and the French government for the Egyptian tomb of Sennefer and the Lascaux Caves, respectively.

The manufacturing of these images involved a long, complex, and laborious process which necessitated the transfer of photographic emulsions onto a synthetic substrate that exactly replicates that of the original wall-painting plaster. This substrate was generated from a stereo-photogram of the original wall-painting in much that same way satellite imagery is used to render computerized topography in 3D.

Following the completion of the substrate, the photographic emulsion was then bonded to create the wall-paintings presented in the museum and shown in this album. Each image in the museum is rendered in a 1/1 scale, and has been stereo photographed using 20x25 cm. negatives so as to reduce peripheral image distortion and provide the very highest resolution. The results are exceptionally realistic and accurate, and this exhibition in Fira remains the only place where one can view, enjoy and study all of the wall-paintings of Thera.

For more detailed information about the technical and artistic aspects of the wall-paintings restoration please consult The Petros Nomikos Museum of Wall-Paintings of Akrotiri : A detailed reference for the inquisitive traveller.

Photos: Michael Tziotis

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Click on any of the pictures to enlarge.

Building Beta

Building Beta is a large building block located in the southern middle portion of the excavation. Due to water erosion, the edifice has been cut in two and the location of the entrance is impossible to determine. Vessels found within Beta indicate that it was a private residence. The upper floors of this building (rooms Beta 1 and 6) were once decorated with wall-paintings.
Room Beta 1 contained the “Boxing Boys” along the southern wall while the “Antelopes” decorated the northern wall. Along the top section of the walls ran broad horizontal bands of blue, heart shaped ivy, while along the bottom ran simple horizontal bands of color.
Though room Beta 6 was heavily damaged by water erosion, the northwest corner of the structure remained largely intact. In this section were found fragments of the “Monkeys” and the “Cows” wall-paintings.


Plan of Building (Sector) Beta

Plan of Building (Sector) Beta
Another Plan of Building (Sector) Beta (The rooms where frescoes were found are in red)

Another Plan of Building (Sector) Beta (The rooms where frescoes were found are in red)
“Boxing Boys”

“Boxing Boys”


Building Beta, Room B1, South waII, H. 2.75 W. 0.94 m

Painted on a white background and framed in a red wave are two boxing boys.

The flexed bodies depicted show very little clothing, thus focusing the viewers eye on the partly shaved blue heads with two long tresses and two small locks of hair.
The boy on the left is seen in full profile, while the other child turns his torso in a three-quarter frontal pose. A three-quarter frontal pose represents a more difficult artistic achievement. In addition, the artist has attempted to depict depth thus trying to capture the movement of the hovers by allowing their aims, thighs and even toes, to cross.

Also interesting to note is that while both children wear boxing gloves on their right hands and a belt (girdle) around their waists, only one of them is wearing jewelry. Jewelry, we can assume, indicates hierarchy.

As the composition was found in a private house, a non-public setting, the two boys may well have been its inhabitants. For these reasons, experts believe that the composition should be interpreted more as a celebration of a coming of age ritual than two children at play.
“Boxing Boys” (Reproduction of the room)

“Boxing Boys” (Reproduction of the room)


Building Beta, Room B1, South waII, H. 2.75 W. 0.94 m
“Boxing Boys” (Detail)

“Boxing Boys” (Detail)
“Boxing Boys” (Detail)

“Boxing Boys” (Detail)
“Antelopes”

“Antelopes”


Building Beta, Room Beta 1, West wall, H. 2.75 / W. 2.00 m. North wall. H. 1.41 / W. 1.15 m.

Two antelopes are painted on a white background and framed by a red wave. Two more pairs of antelopes once covered the walls of this room. Upon the fourth wall was the “Boxing Boys”, framed by a similar red wave motif.
It is unclear from the wall-paintings whether the animals depicted are gazelles or antelopes. Nevertheless, neither antelopes nor gazelles are indigenous to the Cycladic islands. Furthermore, no archaeological evidence indicates that either species could ever have lived naturally on the island. The inability to define the species is further testimony to the argument that the painter may never have seen either annual first-hand. As the nearest wild antelopes and gazelles lived either in Africa (Egypt) or the Near East, it is likely that these “hybrid” creatures were drawn from memory or copied from other images (pottery, seals, etc). For this reason, it is understandable that the antelopes' are not associated with any natural environment; instead, they seem to float without physical context.

Artistically, such fine line drawings are extremely difficult to render; the modern Greek painter Alekos Fassianos was impressed with the confidence and skill of the Theran artists. The ability to draw bold, fluid lines in a medium that does not afford erasing or re-drawing is a skill that is characteristic of both ancient and modern masters.
“Antelopes”, Decoration in the top zone of the wall-painting

“Antelopes”, Decoration in the top zone of the wall-painting


Building Beta, Room Beta 1, West wall, H. 2.75 / W. 2.00 m. North wall. H. 1.41 / W. 1.15 m.
Monkeys

Monkeys


Building Beta Room Beta 6. North wall, H. 2.70 / W. 2.76 m. West wall, H. 2.70/W. 1.13 m.

On the northern and western walls of room Beta 6 in the upper store of Building Beta, blue monkeys are represented in a rocky habitat. The colors of the rocks and the landscape remind us or the island of Thera. The artist seems familiar with these animals. The climbing monkeys seem true-to-life, with their tails bent in an S-shape. Studies have shown that when monkeys move with an S-shaped tail, they do this in order to facilitate balance and grip.

Monkeys, indigenous to Egypt, held an important place in ancient Egyptian theology. Possibly brought to the island as gifts and pets, a monkey skull was found in Thera and is evidence of the artist's ability to study animals first-hand. Blue in color, with a white belly and groin, and a small round head with a pointed muzzle, the artist's monkeys present a convincing picture of reality.

The monkeys here are presented in their natural environment and are devoid of any anthropomorphic element, unlike in other wall-paintings in Akrotiri archaeological site.
Monkeys (Another detail, this one from the West wall )

Monkeys (Another detail, this one from the West wall )
Monkeys (Detail of the North wall in the previous photo)

Monkeys (Detail of the North wall in the previous photo)
 “Cows”

“Cows”


Building Beta, room Beta 6

Calves were probably part of the local domesticated fauna; they are often found in Thera, in the company of humans. In other types of Bronze Age art, from neighboring societies, calves and other bovines frequently occur in the sacrificial context.

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