Date: April 4
Partners for the day:Caleb(text)Katherine(images)
Site(s):
Museum(s): The Herakleion Museum
Principal Buildings/Monuments:
Time Spent on Each Site: from ca. 1:00 pmto ca.5:00[ 4 hours]
Weather: Sunny, but cold with a little wind
Today’s “Free Day” consisted of a trip to the Herakleion Museum. One exhibit that stood out from the rest of the museum as particularly well set up was “The Ring of Minos and Minoan Golden Rings.” The wall color of the room is a lovely Minoan red which separates this exhibit from the drab colored rooms of the other parts of the museum. The organization is well planned out and the wall plaques provide much more information for this exhibit than for other parts of the museum.
The main focus of this museum exhibit is the “Ring of Minos.” Upon entering the doorway, one encounters a large blowup of the figures on the ring. This introduces the iconography present in the scene by allowing the viewer to ascertain the images and detail that is quite difficult to recognize on the actual ring because it is so small and it is placed behind glass. After examining the blow up picture, one begins the tour of the exhibit by reading a brief history of the “Ring of Minos” just to the right of the entranceway. This area gives a history on the discovery, disappearance, and reappearance of the “Ring of Minos.” Moving further along the wall, the viewer is introduced to the first part of the iconography on the ring. This section describes the representations of the seated goddess and the goddess in the air. This section of the exhibit reinforces this type of iconography in the “Ring of Minos” by showing other rings that display similar iconography. The next major stop on one’s way around this exhibit is the ring itself, which is on display in a glass case in the middle of the room. The overhead lighting of this case creates an ambiance that emphasizes the importance of the ring. The next exhibit discusses the authenticity of the “Ring of Minos.” This case is effective in two major ways. Firstly, methods of archaeology for authentication and dating are presented. Secondly, details of the ring are thoroughly described which helps one better understand the peculiarities of the ring that make it unique. The next little section of this exhibit highlights more of the iconography. It describes the aspects of the tree-cult in the society and its representation in pictorial art. This clears up a lot of questions that the average spectator might have in regards to why some figures seem to hang from trees. The next section discusses iconography of sea navigation. Both of the previous sections rely on other examples of such iconography on gold rings to validate their point. The next section describes gold granulation and how it was used on the band of the “Ring of Minos.” This section was extremely interesting because it points out part of the ring that usually seems to be ignored. It focuses on the band which is beautiful by itself. Many seem to disregard this gold work in favor of only presenting the image of the ring.
The exhibit is also successful in its use of interior spacing. The information and artifacts are all displayed along the walls with a definite beginning and ending point. This helps facilitate traffic flow. The space in the center is quite large with a bench where a small group, for example eight students from Dartmouth College, can congregate. Overall this exhibit is effective in explaining the “Ring of Minos” because of the juxtaposition of other gold rings and jewelry, blow up pictures, and wall text while making excellent use of interior space and wall color.