An art piece that is interesting as well as being discussed amongst others is that of the ancient Mediterranean worlds. The piece is Toreador fresco, from the palace of Knossos. The period for toreador is around 1500 B. C. E. The palace at Knossos is of the Minoan culture; therefore, the Toreador was created by an artist of this region. Many of the frescos have been found around the Mediterranean basin, particularly in Morocco.
Some historians believe that the fresco artists were from Crete and were sent to Morocco as part of a trade exchange. The palace of Knossos was built with four wings made of ashlars blocks. The Toreador which is the most famous fresco was presented on a block in the religious wing of the palace. The Toreador is known to represent a sacred ceremony in which individuals jump over the backs of large bulls. The Toreador presents the special animal of the Minoans, the bull. Toreador refers to as being a bull fighter.
The picture explains to the onlookers that bullfighting in this era and culture is different from that of the Spanish and American way of bullfighting. The toreador shows three bullfighters; one in front of the bull grabbing the horns, perhaps getting ready to vault over the bull. The second person in the fresco is in the position of vaulting over the bull. The third person presented in this fresco is behind the bull with open arms, possibly awaiting to catch the acrobat who is on the bull.
The graceful curves of the bulls back, the bulls’ underbelly, the tumblers arched body; reinforce the experience of motion, captured to the split second. Most frescos represented a certain religious ceremonies. Fresco painting is known as the only “threaded” that can be continuously traced throughout the entire history of painting as a form of expression “stitching” together the universal “language” of art. During the Renaissance fresco was referred to as “the mother of all Arts,” which means the art speaks for itself.
