THE CRETAN EXPLORATION FUND.
(To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—Although I fear that it is now almost too late to call the attention of your readers to the Cretan Exhibition which has been on view at Burlington House for the last ten weeks, and which closes to-day, I trust I may be allowed to refer to it in support of an appeal for further funds to enable Mr. Arthur Evans to complete the excavation which has already yielded such brilliant results. No one who has seen the recent collection of drawings, photographs, and casts can have failed to realise what a rich contribution has already been made to the history of early art and civilisation. Those who do not yet grasp the significance of these discoveries may be invited to read the admirable article by Mr. D. G. Hogarth in the current number of the Cornhill Magazine, Three seasons' work, carried out at a cost of about 25.000 raised by public subscription, and at least 21,500 contributed by the excavator himself, "have shown this hillock to contain by far the most various and extraordinary evidence of a dead civilisation that, perhaps, has ever been brought to light at one spot in any part of the world." The great palace which has gradually been revealed affords indications "of a peaceful prosperity and a sumptuousness of civilisation for which one was little prepared in wild Crete in the middle of the second millennium before the Christian era." Not only is the build- ing a marvel of architectural construction, with its spacious halls, long galleries, staircases, and elaborate system of drainage, but its walls are decorated with frescoes which both in design and execution reach a high standard of art. The space available at Burlington House only allowed for the exhibition of selected types out of the great bulk of objects found, but these were enough to show the great wealth of material already brought to light. A striking feature has been the astonishing variety of form and design, from the great throne which still stands in situ in the hall of reception, and the magnificent bull's head in high relief, to delicate representations of human, animal, and vegetable forms which suggest the spirit of the Renaissance, and exquisitely moulded figures in iyory and bronze which recall the fabled art of Daedalus. The stone vases, large and small, many of them copied apparently from repenting metal-work ; the gem designs found so abundantly both at Knossos and at Zakro, in Eastern Crete ; the magnificent specimens of pottery from both these sites ; and lastly, the wonderful series of clay tablets inscribed in a tongue which has yet been only partially deciphered, can here receive but passing notice. Apart from Mr. Hogarth's article, attention may be invited to the fully illustrated Reports contributed by Mr. Evans to the last two numbers of the Annual of the British School at Athens. The new number, containing a: similar Report on the season of 1902, will be ready in a few weeks. The discovery of such a building on the site of Knossos, the seat of the legendary Empire of King Minos ; the constant occurrence in the designs of the bull's head, with the wonderful frescoes representing bull-fights conducted by female toreadors ; the network of passages, and the frequent mark of the double-axe or labrys, which is the recognised emblem of the Cretan Zeus, have for the first time seemed to afford a substantial basis for the legends of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth. The work of excavation, as I have said, is not yet complete, and funds are still needed to enable Mr. Evans to carry his labours to their full conclusion. It is estimated that a sum of not less than 23,000 will be required to complete the work and to make up the deficits of past seasons. At present we have raised scarcely £1,300 towards this amount. Those who recognise the importance of such researches are invited to send con- tributions to the account of "The Cretan Exploration Fund" at Messrs. Robarts, Lubbock, and Co., Lombard Street, B.C., or to myself, at St. Martin's Street, W.C.—I am, Sir, &c., GEORGE A. MACMILLAN,
Hon. Treasurer Cretan Exploration Fund.
Previous page
