The Dolphins fresco, 1500 b.c., is a replica of the famous wall painting in the Queen's Megaron (the main sitting room of her suite) at the Palace of Knossos on Crete. The Minoans frequently painted scenes from nature; animals, flowers, and sea life, and they were clearly overjoyed at the abundance of natural beauty which surrounded them on their island. Although the dolphins are stylized in color and marking, details such as the uneven edge of the dorsal fin, the curved, flat nose, and the intelligence reflected in the eyes (the dolphins have defined pupils while other fish have just a black dot), show us that the Minoans were highly familiar with these animals. The faint blue lines in the background of the fresco probably indicate a net, and a very large net means that they could have enclosed portions of a bay in order to keep dolphins as pets.

Dolphins have often been depicted in Greek and other Eastern Mediterranean art, on vases, coins and jewelry, and obviously occupied a special place in the animal world to these ancient people, as they still do today to the modern Greeks. Notice how the dorsal fin of the lower dolphin and the flippers of the top dolphin converge in the center of the fresco to draw the eye, and how the small fish placed randomly show carefully planned asymmetry that indicates artistic sophistication.