The End of Knossos
Gian Berto Vanni
Oil on canvas; 47 x 41 inches
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The Minoans were the kings of the Mediterranean -- their fleet reached everywhere, and their cities
were not protected by walls, so sure were they that nobody would dare to attack them.
Finally nature did what men could not -- earthquakes, the explosion of the island of Santorini, and
tsunami changed the geography of the Mediterranean. Crete and the Minoan culture disappeared, to be
replaced by the Mycenaeans.
What remained of their capital, Knossos, was rediscovered in the early twentieth century.
I imagined the final moment, when pacified waves twirled around the leftover frescoes, under the
mother-of-pearl light of an indifferent sun.
-- Gian Berto Vanni
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