Bronze Age Greek Sculpture
In the Bronze Age there was not a lot of sculpture in Greece. In Crete, between about 1700 and 1450 BC, the Minoans produced a lot of medium-sized figurines, mainly made of bronze and ivory.
Some of these show women holding snakes: this may be the goddess herself, or a priestess. Other figurines show the Minoan interest in nature and graceful movement, like a young man jumping on a bull's back. A number of figures are of cows or bulls, which also may have a religious meaning.
On the mainland, the Myceneans made only tiny clay figurines, three or four inches high, which were probably gifts for the gods.
Can you see that there are two kinds - one with the arms up (called a PHI figurine because it looks like the Greek letter PHI) and another kind with the arms folded (called a PSI figurine because it looks like the Greek letter PSI)?
