The Prince of Knossos fresco exists in the Palace of Knossos on Crete, as part of the large Processional wall painting painted around 1500 b.c. Surrounded by lilies and wearing an ornate headdress, the Prince leads a griffin or other strange animal on a rope. He is wearing the traditional Minoan short woven skirt , and is shown with bracelets, the wearing of jewelry being common in the Minoan frescoes. Minoans, both male and female, wore their hair long, usually with a waved or curled lock in front of the ear.
The unusual thing about the Prince fresco is his coloring. According to other Minoan frescoes, women were painted in a pale color, and men in a brownish red. Why then is this male prince with a pale skin tone? Some archaeologists have speculated that the fresco was reconstructed wrong by Sir Arthur Evans, while others maintain it is accurate and holds a mystery. The Minoans preferred profiles like the Egyptians with whom they traded. However, their art is much more fluid and natural than the stiff Egyptian portrayals, as evident in the shifting of weight in the Prince's legs, the curving musculature, and the strength and gracefulness with which he leans slightly back, his arm stretched out behind him.
