Berkeley Undergraduate Journal

The fresco served an extraordinarily important role during the Aegean Bronze Age not only as a marker of wealth and form of elite consumption, but also as a ritualistic tool and creator of cultic space. However, while there is a wealth of literature present concerning the presence of frescoes and speculations about the symbolic nature of their depictions, there is very little information about the effects of the fresco as an active agent upon a passive viewer. This study delves into the nature of the Bronze Age Aegean fresco as an active media differentiating itself from small-scale ceramic artwork through its ability to physically surround and incorporate the viewer into the narrative. The paper first discusses the origin of the fresco, followed by a break down of the two major forms of perspective used in Bronze Age Aegean frescoes: the “cavalier perspective” and the “incorporative perspective”. Finally, case studies of each perspective are analyzed to demonstrate the effect of the fresco upon a passive viewer and to show the subtlety of the perspectives themselves. This analysis of the Bronze Age fresco as an active agent capable of effecting the emotions of human observers provides a new level of fresco interpretation rarely before considered by archaeologists and art historians.