This original fresco fragment belonged to one of the bull-leaping panels known as the ‘Taureador Frescos’. It shows an acrobat who has successfully completed their jump. Evans believed that the white skin indicated a female athlete, following a convention used in Egyptian wall paintings. It is more likely that the skin colour, along with the elaborate hairstyle, depicts relative status – paler skin suggested less time spent outside.
Bibliography
Evans, Arthur. 1930. The Palace of Minos at Knossos, III, p. 216, pl. xxi
Myres, John (ed.). 1936. British Archaeological Discoveries in Greece and Crete 1886-1936, p. 23