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

blue colour was for water,

86 the sea and for the real animals and mythical monsters living in it. Hypocampus and dolphins are on the blue picture fields. The gulls hovering over the water described by E. B. Thomas cannot be discernible by now, most probably they were mistaken for the paddles of the hypocampus}

1 The division of this picture strip differs from that of the other picture fields. It starts and ends at its two ends with scenes which cannot be identified, most probably with a dolphin, followed by a hypocampus, the length of which is almost the double of the length of other animals appearing in the band. There is a room for only two hypocampus representations in the picture field, and the space between them is filled in by dolphins. The motifs in the blue picture field have an waving character to render the surge of the sea. At the same time the ground-line, which in this picture is the water surface, can be observed here, too. Among the fragments there is a piece representing part of a hypocampus^ moving in opposite direction, that is from the left to the right. The place of this fragment was most probably also on the other wall of the room. (Fig. 15.) Supposedly the picture bands had been divided into three minor fields. As for the red background field it means that there was a deer between two trees at each end while in the middle part which was usually wider than the other ones, the more complex, vivid scenes were represented. Most fragments belong to the picture field with red background and first of all, because of the series of non repeated scenes it is conspicuous that representations of stories the chronology of which follows both a from the left to the right direction and an opposite direction, appear. Naturally it is possible that the two deers between the trees at the two ends of the series face each other that is they turn towards the middle field, however, the representation of maned horses may contradict it, where the animal (horse, hind) runs just into the opposite direction, that is outwards. (Figs. 6., 15.) The other fact which seems to corroborate the oneway moving of the series of scenes is that on one of the fragments

89 the red background field is followed to the right of it, by blue one.

90 In this case in the red field part of the hind quarter of an animal moving from the right to the left can be detected. If the scene had a "movement" from the left to the right the red field should have been followed by a green field and not by a blue one, however if the movement of opposite direction had been presented on another wall as if mirroring the first one, it is possible that the red field would be followed by a blue one. (Fig. 17.) The figures moving in same direction together with the alternating background colours supposedly followed each other as if in a mirror on the opposite walls of the room, that is most probably they represented a movement started from the entrance towards the inner part of the room. The contradiction created at the contact of the two fields was most probably bridged over by symmetric arrangement and the representation of a water-bird turning its head is maybe connected with this. This can be observed not only on the paintings of the Red Dining Room but also on the paintings of the so called room No. 11. at Baláca

91 where there are birds standing with their backs to each other but turning their heads toward each other against a green background. (Fig. 25.) My hypothesis is proved also by those fragments with red background which fit together

92 and were excavated in the room No. 11. On them there are hind legs of escaping animals moving from the left to the right can be seen one after the other. (Fig. 26.) In the Balatonfüred wall-painting

93 a similar movement from the left to the right can be seen on the reconstruction made of fragments fitting together.

94 (Fig. 27.) Though it is obvious that the escaping animals always run away only one direction from before their chaser.