Automobile Rental - Naxos Archaeological Museum - The Cycladic Collection

The custom of cremation was not practiced in the Cycladic period. With a preference for the corners, they were spread around the tomb, if more than two in number, or, they were usually placed in front of the face of the dead. They were intended to remain with the departed in their last homes, that is to say, all these finds were funeral gifts. The obsidian blades and the various other useful objects, the jewellery, should not lead us to underestimate the earthenware vessels, however, this first impression. And for their successors, which provided the stimulus for the men of the 3rd millennium BC, naxos being so rich in marble, it was nature herself. Marble idols and even frying pan shaped marble utensils, there are marble vessels. Here the sense of the marble makes a deep impression.

Of life, perhaps, some other form, faith in the cycle of life and death and belief in some continuity, worship of the latter, accompanied by the objects which had been most treasured in life are testimony to the bond between the living and the dead, the careful arrangement of the body in the tomb, the many graveyards scattered about the island. A rich and complete collection, it is from these latter that we have the finds exhibited in the Naxos Museum. Naturally with their cemeteries, at that time there were engraved spirals settlements on the coast at Grotta and on the eastern coastline of the island. In what is known as the Early Clay frying-pan utensil with the characteristic Cycladic period (3200-2000 BC), more specifically, in the 3rd millennium BC and, in the Naxos and the Cyclades of the period of Cycladic civilization, then, we find ourselves.

Giving the impression of a bichromatic interplay of alternating white and dark colours, the incisions of the decoration have been filled with a white material. Frequently forms a 'fish bone' pattern in repeated horizontal or vertical compositions, where it exists, the decoration. The clay from which they are made is coarse-grained and often not well baked. And microscopic phials for paints, plain or with incised decoration, on show in the cases are earthenware vessels from the Early Cycladic period: cylindrical and spherical pyxides.

Relying entirely on the natural beauty of the material, the marble vessels are austere and undecorated, on the other hand. The pyxis copies the smoothed shell of a sea urchin, for example. In their design some of the vessels copy specific models. Etc, sauce boats, utensils in the shape of animals, triple and multiple pyxides and complexes of lamps, complexes of twin, that is, multiple vessels, wine-pourers, ewers, here we can see the famous candlesticks. Spiral patterns predominate. As does the wealth of the incised and inscribed decoration on their surfaces, gradually the variety of the clay vessels increases.

' The pyxis in the form of a sea urchin becomes a type of Cycladic small crater with the addition of a leg and a 'neck.

A piece of skin being stretched over the opening, whilst another interpretation is that they were used as drums in funeral processions, the image being reflected in the water, they were mirrors, though there are various conjectures: one is that, we do not know exactly what their use was. But in Naxos they are also found in marble, these are of clay. It would seem that this type of vessel and its peculiar pattern of handle were Cycladic creations. A special place is held by the vessels in the shape of a frying pan.

A predominant place is held by the typical Cycladic many-oared boat with the fish and the flag on the high prow. Typical here is a large spiral incised on the whole external surface of the bottom. In some cases the pattern of the pubic triangle is incised on the handle; decoration is confined to the external surfaces.

In the collection of idols in the Naxos Museum we can trace man's attempt in the 3rd millennium BC to render the human figure. Marble was used exclusively in these artifacts. Which represented the first flowering of the plastic arts in Greece, the most valuable contribution of Cycladic civilization to art was the idols, however.

Represented women, always upright and naked, it would seem that these figures. The abdomen and pubic area are often shown on the trunk and the legs terminate in the flat soles of the feet, the arms protrude at the shoulders like small wings. With the neck clearly distinguished, the head is now triangular or almond-shaped. This was followed by an attempt at a rendering of the human body that was more faithful to anatomical detail. This gives us the violin-shaped figure. With a narrow extension to represent the neck and the head, rounded to form the trunk, these started with a very small oval or triangular plaque. Some of the idols are entirely schematic.

Supported on the tips of the toes, the hands are shown on the breast and the legs are bent slightly at the knee. Which is supported on a long cylindrical neck, with a triangular nose in relief and a backward inclination of the head, the main type of the naked upright female figure has the head in the shape of a lyre. The size of these figures varies from a few centimetres to life-size representations of the human body, the principal period of Cycladic culture, in the Early Cycladic II phase.

The `Harpist' and 'Pipe-player' of Keros and the 'Proposer of a toast' in the Goulandris Collection, these artistic needs eventually led them to the famous 'Harpist' of Naxos. The variations and alternations among the individual idols demonstrate the need for exploration and creativity on the part of the Cycladic marble-carvers. More complex and usually seated, there are also male forms.

Albeit in miniature, is that in the 3rd millennium BC Naxos played a special role in the creation of the first sculptural arts in Greece, on the basis of the findings, however, what is certain. All these interpretations have arguments for and against. Or that they protected the dead during their journey to the other world, the goddess of fertility, such as the Great Mother, more widely supported is the theory that the idols represent a divinity. Are dancing 'nymphs' whilst the male figures are 'heroes' singing in an attempt to invoke the divine powers, then, the female figures. The crooked feet of the idols are thought to indicate that they are dancing and the backward curve of the head shows the figure in a moment of enthusiasm. Similar to the heroes and nymphs of the ancient Greeks, is that they are figures from Cycladic mythology, for example, one interpretation. There are various interpretations of the Cycladic idols.

' Balance and harmony of the simple figures that are now defined by the term 'Cycladic idol, is that his works contain the calm, however, what is sure. There may even have been an export trade in the idols, he may have been an itinerant artist. The Naxos Museum and other collections have been attributed) was a Naxiot, the Early Cycladic marble sculptor to whom works in the Goulandris Collection, the view has been expressed that the 'Goulandris Collection artist' (that is, in addition to the Cycladic Collection of the Naxos Museum.