UNCA to Host Talk on Minoan Art and the Natural World

Anne Chapin, assistant professor of art history and archaeology at Brevard College, will discuss depictions of the natural world made by prehistoric Minoans at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, at UNC Asheville’s Owen Conference Center. Her talk, "Divinity in Nature? Minoan Representations of the Prehistoric Greek Landscape," is free and open to the public.

The three thousand-year-old Minoan paintings are famous for their beautiful depictions of the natural world and have contributed to a popular impression of the prehistoric Minoans as a gentle, nature-loving people. More recent scholarship suggests a connection between the depictions of nature and the cult of a Minoan nature goddess, which indicates that landscape art may also have had a religious function in Minoan society.

The talk is co-sponsored by the American Institute of Archaeology and UNCA's Classics Department.

For more information, call Dorothy Dvorsky Rohner, UNCA assistant classics professor, at 828/251-6295.

Media Contacts:

• Dr. Dorothy Dvorsky Rohner, UNCA Assistant Classics Professor, 828/251-6295
• Jill Yarnall, UNCA Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526