#cyclades Greece

[cyclades-islands]

A charming corner in 📍Paros island (Πάρος) - @cyclades-islands 🇬🇷❤️

📸 by: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7R6IOSIYmI/?igsh=enplZjBuMHcxNmts

[otium-sophos]

[gemsofgreece]

Hello, quick question. What the fuck

"Santorini: The local department of the National Conservatory has shut down - It will be converted to an Airbnb"

If you ever ever travel to Greece, one plea: DON'T stay to an Airbnb. They are destroying the country. Trust me. If you want the good of the country and its people, go to a hotel, maybe ideally a small business boutique hotel but any hotel is more ethical than an Airbnb at this point.

[wgm-beautiful-world]

S a n t o r i n i

[whimsimarion]

Hatsune Miku as a Cycladic idol from the Neolithic period. Reference used:

[the-puffinry]

uhm he'll be having some pumpkin soup on your dashboard now... thank you.

(first time I ever attempted to animate something with gimp lol. same figurine as yesterday.)

(Zoomorphic vase in the shape of an animal, a little bear or a hedgehog, holding a bowl. Chalandriani, Syros. Early Cycladic II period, Keros-Syros Culture (2800-2300 BC).

[lost-and-found-in-greece]

Apothikes Beach

Andros Island, Greece 🇬🇷 ❤

IG: stelpan_

[famousinuniverse]

Colourful House, Mykonos, Greece: Mykonos is a Greek island, part of the Cyclades, lying between Tinos, Syros, Paros and Naxos. The island has an area of 85.5 square kilometres and rises to an elevation of 341 metres at its highest point. The town is also known as Chora. Wikipedia

[christinakroft]

Chora, Mykonos

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Prehistoric Figurine of a Harp Player, from the Cyclades (Greece), c. 2700-2300 BCE: this figurine was shaped from a block of solid marble and then slowly sanded into form using pumice and emery

The figurine depicts a musician with a frame harp, an instrument that originated in the Near East and then later spread to the peoples of the Aegean. A sound box forms the section along the base of the instrument, and a small protrusion can be seen near the top of the harp's frame; some experts have argued that this protrusion might represent an ornamental carving of a waterfowl's head, while others argue that it represents a musical extension that facilitates the projection of sound (a feature that often appears on the stringed instruments of the ancient Near East).

This piece measures 35.8cm (about 14 inches) tall.

Musical performances like this are rarely depicted in Cycladic artwork. Depictions of male characters are similarly rare, representing only 5% of the Cycladic sculptures that are known to exist. When male figures are depicted, however, they are frequently shown playing musical instruments, as seen here.

Figurine of a Harpist, c. 2800-2700 BCE: a similar example of a Cycladic sculpture that features a musician with a frame harp

The Museum of Cycladic Art provides a more detailed explanation of the process by which these figures were created:

As we can deduce from the few unfinished figurines that have been discovered so far, the first step in the process was to roughly shape the raw piece of marble into a figure by the impact of a mallet. Emery powder was then used to abrade the surface until it obtained the desired shape and size. Once the desired shape was achieved, the surface was smoothed carefully before the fine work of carving the details started. At the end, the figurine was polished to a high degree that is still amazing.

And according to The Met:

Many of these figures, especially those of the Spedos type, display a remarkable consistency in form and proportion that suggests they were planned with a compass. Scientific analysis has shown that the surface of the marble was painted with mineral-based pigments—azurite for blue and iron ores, or cinnabar for red.

The Cycladic Islands (also known as the Cyclades) are a group of about 30 separate islands in the Southwest Aegean, off the coast of mainland Greece. These islands contain a wealth of natural resources, including marble, emery, pumice, obsidian, and an assortment of precious metals. The prehistoric peoples of the Cyclades made use of these resources for many different purposes, but the marble figurines/sculptures that they crafted during the Bronze Age are perhaps their most famous creation.

The vast majority of these figurines are stylized depictions of the female form. The cultural significance of the sculptures remains unclear; they may have simply been created as decorative pieces/artwork, without any additional function, or they may have been used as fetishes, totems, religious idols, grave goods, or votive offerings.

Sources & More Info:

The Getty Museum: Figurine of a Harp Player

The Met: Cycladic Harp Player

The Met: Early Cycladic Art and Culture

The Museum of Cycladic Art: Techniques

[2emeagauche]

Amorgos, ©pierre-yves chassaigne

[cyclades-islands]

The adorable alley of main village in 📍Kythnos island (Κύθνος) - @cyclades-islands 💛

📸 by: https://www.instagram.com/p/C8Fhf7-opDj/?igsh=NnkybTczMWV5NmRu

[otium-sophos]

[gemsofgreece]

Dinner for two. Lycabettus restaurant in Oia, Santorini, Greece.

[wgm-beautiful-world]

S a n t o r i n i

[aretis]

Cyclades, Greece 💙

📷 @George Meis