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From Christine Doumas, The Wall-Paintings of Thera (1992)

In the late 17th and 16th centuries B.C., artistic culture flourished on the Minoan island of Crete and the Cycladic island of Thera (modern Santorini). At both, palaces were decorated with distinctive frescoes, including a bustling maritime scene of ships and buildings, known as the miniature fresco, from Akrotiri. Excavations at Egyptian and Near Eastern sites have revealed paintings in this Aegean style, suggesting wide artistic influence from the Aegean, but questions remain as to how those paintings got there—and why.