:: 2009 :: 40cm x 30cm Oval :: Inks, Markers & Aerosol Paint on Canvas ::
Minoan art is replete with images of shrines, in frescoes and on ceramic and stone vases, and a naturalistic depiction of a sacred mountain building seems to have often been favoured over an image of the deity who may have been venerated there. Tripartite architectural forms appear to have been common, both as sacred areas within larger building complexes or as purpose-built shrines upon mountain peaks, and were shown surrounded by natural beauty: trees are often seen growing around them and animals resting upon them. The preference for depicting the peak sanctuary building rather than the deity supports the notion that epiphanies of the deity in such mountain shrines were intended to be personal rather than hieratic, and thus the original artists may have been unwilling to colour the visions of others with their own images. Nonetheless in this reconstruction, I have suggested a female form as an epiphany surmounting the central building, arms out to welcome the pilgrim into the sacred space.
