\paperw19995 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 Mycenaean art developed throughout the Peloponnesos and in other parts of Greece. It can be considered the product of the pe
oples who played the leading role in HomerÆs epics, and were engaged in a long and exhausting war against Asiatic tribes. It is for this reason that the most important testimonies to the art of this period are connected with works of architecture, many o
f which are fortified, or with the great collections of burial goods that were placed in the tombs of the chief dignitaries at the various courts. The best known burial good, partly due to the precious character of the objects found, is the so-called Tre
asury of Atreus.\par
Houses and palaces were built out of unfired brick with wooden partitions, thus creating an impression of majesty and invulnerability at the same time. The most ancient parts of the acropolises of Athens, Argos and Thebes date from
this period.\par
Surviving examples of sculpture are extremely rare and the steles of Mycenae, which were found in the great grave circles, are very modest from the artistic viewpoint. They are adorned with representations in flat relief, which were obt
ained by blocking out the images and carving away the background. Even the ornamental painting denotes the ôbellicoseö origins of Mycenaean art. The zoomorphic motifs are represented so rigidly that this kind of painting has been defined as schematic. Th
e richest examples of this artistic language are provided by the death masks of kings, which are covered entirely with gold, as well as gold drinking vessels, carved rings, stone seals, bronze swords and knives and the various types of ornament which und
erline the variety of artistic disciplines practiced by the Mycenaean civilization.
