Precision Restoration
Late Bronze Age (LBA)
East Wing, Courtyard of the Stone Spout
Knossos, Crete, Greece

Fragments of this fresco (painted plaster) were discovered in the East Wing of the Palace of Knossos in the Courtyard of the Stone Spout during the excavations conducted by Arthur Evans between 1900 and 1904. The restored fresco is on display in Greece at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum in Heraklion, Crete. It is 78.2 cm (30.8 inches) high and 104.5 cm (41.1 inches) wide. It has been dated from the Middle Minoan (MM) III through to the Late Minioan IB period or perhaps later. It depicts what is thought to be a male acrobat vaulting over the back of an aggressive charging bull accompanied by two female attendants positioned at the front and back of the bull. The attendant in front of the bull has its horns in her grasp and the one at the rear appears to be preparing to catch the leaper at the end of his vault.