Reproduction of the "Saffron-Gatherer" fresco

Emile Gilliéron · 1525-01-01T00:00:00Z

Excavated 1900 in the area of the Early Keep at Knossos.This restoration by E. Gillieron, pere has famously been shown incorrect as it surely represents a monkey not a boy. Blue monkeys appear in a number of Aegean wall paintings such as the one exhibited adjacent to this painting. Part of the tail, unrecognized at the time of restoration, is visible in the fragment at the far right. The original fresco was damaged during an earthquake in Herakleion in 1926 and was subsequently restored differently. The Metropolitan's reproduction records the first restoration made by Gillieron. Subsequent study of the deposit has identified additional fragments that suggest at least two monkeys were portrayed in the scene.The original is in the Archaeological Museum of Herakleion, Crete