Ti Watching A Hippo VS. Bull Leaping

I am doing option number one and I will be comparing the Egyptian Ti Watching A Hippopotamus Hunt from the Fifth Dynasty with the Minoan Bull Leaping from the late Minoan Period. I will be comparing the style of the two pieces, the medium in which they are made, and the subject matter and also geographically how close both cultures were to each other. These two pieces have very interesting similarities and differences being from two different continents. You can really see how they look like the Egyptians influenced the Minoans. It is interesting how distance does not affect how the Minoans may have been influenced, seeing’s that at the time trading was big with the Minoans.

First lets talk about the style of the two pieces. When looking at the Ti Watching A Hippopotamus Hunt and the Bull Leaping, they both show a story of a male working against a beast of some kind. It shows strength between a man and beast. There are a lot of textures between both pictures. With the Egyptian piece you can see the texture in the limestone medium that they chose to carve into. There are patterns and animals on the patterns making the texture of the piece pop out more. With the Bull Leaping there are patterns around the outside but within the bull figure the lines that are what I assume is hair give another form of texture.  The figures in both pieces seem flat. A quote from our Art History book from Marilyn Stokstad and Michael W. Cothren that tells a better understanding of what I am trying to say, “They (Minoans) preferred profile or full-faced views, and they turned natural forms into decorative patterns through stylization”.  The Egyptians and Minoans both used a profile view in the human and animal figures. Both piece in this profile sense seem like they are in the same era, which is interesting when looking at where both countries were.

The Ti Watching A Hippopotamus Hunt was in the tomb of Ti in Saqqara Egypt from the Fifth Dynasty. As for the Bull Leaping fresco is from the Palace Complex of Crete Greece.  The only thing separating the two different states is the Mediterranean Sea. Knowing that the Minoans traded a lot by sea one could see how the Egyptians could easily influence the Minoans in this fresco.

Both piece have a painted value to each. They Egyptians actually cut into the limestone and then painted over it with dark reds and yellows. As for the Minoans they painted right onto the wall but again using dark colors and almost gold’s. One cause really see in the texture and color and also in the figures themselves the Egyptians highly influenced the Minoans. In both pieces they use very rich color and textures to illustrate the story they want to tell. They both have a strong male controlling a beast of sorts.