K. Palágyi Sylvia szerk.: Balácai Közlemények 2008/10. (Veszprém, 2008)

KIRCHHOF, ANITA: The decorative system and reconstruction of the red dining room at Baláca - A balácai vörös ebédlő dekorációs rendszere és rekonstrukciója

meals within the medallions of the main field. However, the series of athletic scenes, together with its necessary accessories, does not fit into the programme of the supposed story. A suggestion had been raised according to which the scenes of the red picture fields display perhaps amphiteatrum games.

82 However, we suppose that the room in which the wall-painting was served as a triclinium. And thus, if we accept that the representations should be connected with the function of the room, and indeed in the scenes of the main fields the representations of delicacies functioned as appetizers, moreover on the stucco certain types of future meals appear in the medallions (aquatic creatures, water-fowls, and forest animals), and also the ways to get them are displayed together with their environment, on the other picture fields we have to or may expect rather the representations of scenes serve as entertainment (e.g. athletic scenes) of the visitors. On those scenes of Roman wall-painting which represent amusing topics or depict everyday life, we frequently find pygmies,

83 grotesque figures and dwarfs which in almost every instance wear their characteristic caps, highly similar to the one appearing at Baláca. On the basis of the similarities of the representations it is clear that the figures on the Baláca stucco are also grotesque figures. With one exception the figures appear in profile, while their chests are represented front-wise. The four-sided table is depicted in perspective. In every field the ground-line below the figures is present (even in the marine scenes, marking the water surface), though becauase of the damaged condition of the pictures it can be traced by now only here and there. The lower part and feet of the figures frequently hang out from the picture field which could be explained by the nature of the surface which here is not concave as on the stucco-decoration in relief but it is flat. At every picture band having different background colours, inluding dividing medallions, we could observe that the figures of the scenes and the decorative patterns had been sketched by a light blue colour and the white colour was applied later over the figures with blue background colour to achieve light and shade effect.

84 This application of colours resulted a relieflike, almost life-like appearance of the figures. (Figs. 4., 6-14., 16-17.) Considering the direction of the sequence of the scenes the red background field was followed by the green one. Against the green background a water-side scene was

85 represented water-plants (sedges and other marsh-bushes) alternate with water-fowls (herons, egrets, storks and ducks). (Figs. 13-15.) The arrangement of the field was most probably similar to that of the red background fields, that is the picture field was divided into three parts and the middle one was somewhat wider than the two outside ones. On one of the representations there is a bird turning its head, it could be put most probably into the middle field of the picture field, beacuse both in front of it and behind it there are empty spaces and the end of the leaves of the water-plant depicted in front of the animal appears only at the edge of the fragment. (Fig. 14.) On another fragment supposedly a stork searching for food can be seen. On a third fragment a fragmentary shape of a smaller bird, most probably that of a duck (Fig. 13.), can be detected. Water-plants can be seen on two other fragments with green background colour. (Fig. 75.) With the aid of one of the fragments the position of the stucco band within the wall-painting can be determined and constructed well. It means that the green closing band was over the middle zone, followed by the lower part of the strucco imitation and the green picture field with the sedge. (Fig. 15.) The green picture field was followed by the blue one, than again by the red one. (Fig. 4) The