Fresco fragment showing bull-leaper

This original fresco fragment belonged to one of the bull-leaping panels related to the ‘Taureador Fresco’. It shows an acrobat who has successfully completed their jump. Sir Arthur 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.