DO NATURE SCENES HAVE A UNIFIED MEANING?
As already mentioned, the painters at Akrotiri treated nature scenes with great variety, decorating areas with probably different functions, either as independent (self-sufficient) compositions or as integral components of wider iconographic programmes. Thus, the use of the overall term ‘nature scenes’ refers to compositions which do not have one specific character but are differentiated in their structure, execution and function. In the surviving fragments of wall paintings from Crete, there are scenes which have similar subject matter and character to some Theran paintings. Consequently, the Cretan material is very important for analysing and determining the wide range of choices at the disposal of the painters. The ‘Saffron Gatherers’ scene in Room 3a of Xeste 3 depicts an activity which is also attested in two Minoan examples of more or less the same date. These are the ‘Saffron Gatherer’ (Evans 1921, 265ff.; Platon 1947, pl. K) from the Palace of Knossos and that from Room 14 at A
