Athena Review Image Archive ™
Knossos: Cup-bearer fresco (LMII)
Knossos: The Cup-bearer Fresco (after M. Cameron, in D. Evely 1999).
The
Late Minoan IA period, covering much of the 16th century BC, saw
alterations in palace architectural units such as the South Propylaeum
and North Entrance Passage to make them less vulnerable to seismic
damage. Walls were erected to reduce the size of rooms and provide
greater support for the upper floors. The North Entrance Passage was
given supporting bastions built of masonry every bit as fine as in the
preceding period.
Even more remarkable changes were to be seen in the frescoed walls which now greeted the visitor, whether above the new North Entrance Bastions or along the corridor leading from the West Court around the southwest to the South Propylaeum, and possibly the Central Court itself. The entrance was given the name "Corridor of the Procession" by Evans due to the frescoes that adorned its walls in the later Mycenaean period (Late Minoan II-IIIA), but there is evidence that a comparable composition was in place by Late Minoan IA.
[Source: McDonald, Colin F."The Palaces of Minos at Knossos" Athena Review, v3 no.3]
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