Two Helmets

WESTERN/MINOR ARTS:METALWORK/ART MARKET; ARCHAIC GREEK; 1) HORSES & LIONS; 2)WINGED YOUTHS; from Afrati (a.k.a. Arkados in ancient times), Crete (late 7C. BC); NY: MMA; bronze h(1):24.5cm (2):21cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Spring 1992, p.16; BRILLIANT GIFT; JAN 06 1993; Two Helmets; Bronze; Helmet with horses and lions, height 9 5/8 in. 24.5 cm).; Inscribed on the left side: Synenitos the son of Euklotas [took this]. Helmet with winged youths: height 8 1/4 in. (21 cm).; Inscribed above the visor: Neopolis; Greek (Archaic, Cretan), late 7th century B.C.; Gift of Norbert Schimmel Trust, 1989; 1989.281.49,50; Ex coll: Norbert Schimmel; Ancient Art 1974, nos. 14, 15, Troja bis Amarna 1978,; nos. 14, 15; These helmets were part of a cache of armor reportedly found in south-central Crete at Afrati, site of the ancient city of Arkades. During the early first millennium Dorian Greeks settled on Crete and established fiercely independent cities that engaged in frequent warfare with one another. Because of the island's location these Dorians were among the first Hellenic people to come into close contact with Near Eastern culture and art. The armor was probably a votive dedication, as many of the pieces have been inscribed with the names of the men who took them in battle. The helmets differ in design and ornamentation from Corinthian types, and appear to have been influenced by Near Eastern metalwork. They were made in identically decorated halves that were riveted together. One helmet shows two long-legged horses worked in repoussé with delicately incised details. On the cheekpieces are small engraved doglike lions, identifiable only by their manes. The other helmet has on each side a design of two winged youths, who flank and grasp a pair of entwined serpents. Dressed in short kilts, they wear winged sandals and have wings on their backs that appear to be; attached with straps. Although some scholars identified these figures as the legendary Cretan craftsman Daidalos and his son Icarus, who tried to fly with waxen wings, they probably represent local daemonic beings, because of their heraldic disposition and undifferentiated appearance. Such animal taming divinities were common in the oriental world, and their appearance here exemplifies the strong Near Eastern influence on Cretan art.