Wall Paintings from Gordion in Their Anatolian Context

doi:10.1017/9781009151016.019

12 - Wall Paintings from Gordion in Their Anatolian Context

from Part V - Shared and Distinct Iconographies

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 March 2023

Susanne Berndt

Edited by

Elizabeth P. Baughan and

Lisa C. Pieraccini

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Elizabeth P. Baughan: Affiliation:
University of Richmond, Virginia
Lisa C. Pieraccini: Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley

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Summary

Excavations conducted by the University of Pennsylvania at Phrygian Gordion have so far only revealed wall paintings from one small building. This structure was prominently located between two large Middle Phrygian megara at the outer court of the citadel and dates to the beginning of the Achaemenid period (ca. 500–490 BCE). The building was unique regarding both its decoration and architectural features. It was a semi-subterranean structure that consisted of one main chamber measuring about 3.50 × 4.75 m with a narrow antechamber in front. The mudbrick walls, once decorated with painted plaster, had collapsed during the Persian period, probably because the walls had been robbed of their supporting timber beams. Thousands of painted plaster fragments were recovered during the excavations of the late 1950s. This paper discusses the artistic style, techniques, and iconography of these paintings from an Anatolian perspective, and takes into account contemporary Etruscan wall paintings.

Keywords

Phrygian wall painting Lydian tomb painting Painted House blue beard Matar snakes procession Achaemenid Anatolia

Type: Chapter
Information: Etruria and Anatolia
Material Connections and Artistic Exchange
, pp. 217 - 233

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009151016.019 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2023

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