of
squareness and solidity to the whole. On a closer approach the eye
would be impressed by the wide and spacious courts, the stately
porticoes, the noble stairways, and the wealth of colour everywhere
displayed; but, on the whole, so far as can be judged, it was only
from within that the splendour of the Minoan palaces could be fairly
estimated.

A palace such as that of Knossos sheltered an extraordinary variety
and complexity of life. An abundance of humbler rooms served for
the accommodation of the artists and artisans who were needed for
the service and adornment of the palace, and of whom whole companies
must have lived within the walls, 'dwelling with the king for his
work,' like the potters and foresters mentioned in Scripture. Several
shrines and altars provided for the religious needs of the community.
Rooms of state were set apart for public audiences and for council
meetings. In fact, the building was not only a King's dwelling-place,
but the administrative centre of a whole empire, and within its
walls there was room for the offices of the various departments
and for the housing of their records.

The domestic quarter of the palace still reveals in some of its
rooms the environment of luxury and beauty in which the Minoan
royalties lived. The Queen's Megaron may be taken as typical. A
row of pillars rising from a low, continuous base divides the room
into two parts. The upper surface of the base on either side of
the pillars is of stucco moulded so as to form a long couch, which
was doubtless covered with cushions when the room was in use. Light
was furnished in the day-time, according to Cretan Palace practice,
not by windows, but by light-wells, of which there are two, one on
the south and one on the east side. In one of these light-shafts
the brilliant white stucco surface which reflected the light into
the room is decorated with a modelled and painted relief, of which
a fragment has survived, representing a bird of gorgeous plumage,
with long curving wing, and feathers of red, blue, yellow, white,
and black. Near the light-well on the other side of the line of
pillars, outside nature was brought within doors by a beautiful
piece of fresco-painting which shows fishes swimming through the
water, and dashing off foam-bells and ripples in their rapid course.
Along the north wall of the room ran another gay fresco, representing
a company of dancing-girls on a scale of half life-size. One of
the dancers i