This volume is a survey of art produced in the area surrounding the Aegean Sea during the period beginning with the Stone Age and ending around the time of the first century B.C. This was a Golden Age of Cretan palaces and the Mycenic citadels of Greece.
The Art of Crete and Early Greece by Friedrich Matz From the Stone Age over the Bronze Age we come to Crete and then Mycene : the author makes a very detailed analysis of the form of the art and its development in the different artistic fields : architecture, ceramics, jewelry, stamps, frescos. He tries to sketch the common thread in the evolution of this art which is the precursor of the classical Greek art. Friedrich Matz is a very educated specialist in this matter and he’s so well educated that he has a problem with the transmission of his knowledge. This makes the lecture of this book a tough nut to crack. The reader must stay very attentive while reading if he wants to follow the author in his study into the smallest details of every object and its relation to the general thread of the argument. The photographs and technical designs are a good help to illustrate the subjects and to give a visual idea of the artistic items that are dealt with.