A műemlékek sokszínűsége (A 28. Egri Nyári Egyetem előadásai 1998 Eger, 1998)

Előadások / Presentations - Svetla KOINOVA METCHKUEVA: Two thracian tombs in Bulgaria entered in the world heritage list

the procession includes a diametrical group of four horses in different stancs and a young coachman holding back the harnessed horses and the chariot with a powerful gesture of hsi right hand. The talent with which the artist has composed the scene and has balanced its individual elements - the sitting couple, the procession of composed and dignified figures, and the dynamic group of the horses - is truly remarkable. The artist's skill of depicting reality is also very impressive. The logical final touch to the decoration is the last frieze crowning the vault. It is an ingenious representation of three chariots riding at full speed, and can be considered as a poetic culmination of the story. The genre of monumental painting is fully preserved in the Kazanluk Thracian tomb. The complex beehive-shaped design of the architectural base had not only presented no difficulties to the artist but, on the contrary, seems to have helped him to develop the composition in such a way as to impart an additional feeling of depth in space. The elegance of the stroke, the excellent anatomic knowledge and the ease with which the artist had obtained a well-balanced colour harmony place the painting among the best achievements of antiquity. The artist composes freely and skilfully; he uses cleverly the shortening of forms in order to enhance the illusion of depth that is typical of the architectural solution as well. Undertones emphasise the plasticity of the figures, and this artistic approach ditinguishes between the murals in the Kazanluk Thracian tomb and the Greek (vase) painting where the figures are two-dimensional. Studies testify of the use of two decoration techniques - dry and wet frescoes. The encaustic mode of painting was applied to the stucco layer thus giving it a nearly mirror-like brillance. A rich range of shades of the principal colours was used, which is typical of the palette of the artists of those times: white, black, red earth, ochre and yellow earth. The investigation of the murals in the Kazanluk Thracian tomb makes it possible for the following conclusions to be drawn: 1. Positive influence of the Hellenistic art and of its aesthetic rules. 2. The composition principle of dividing the figurai frieze into two wings recalls of the decoration scheme of friezes in the classical Greek monumental architecture and painting. 3. The free portrayal of traditional patterns of the epoch tells of a specific interaction between the early Hellenistic art and Thracian culture. 4. The overall decoration pattern contains some new elements. This is due both to the tomb's architectural form - which is unfamiliar to Greek traditions - and to the different rules, habits, customs and ways of life a medium where Greek art had found roots. 5. The murals of the Kazanluk Thracian tomb are a valuable source of studying the life and culture of Thracian society during the Early Hellenistic Epoch. The richly broken up composition of the funeral feast marks a particular moment of the approacnh to this theme in antiquity, and has no analogies in the sepulchral or monumental art of those times. 6. The Kazanluk Thracian tomb helps to study the genesis of the Hellenistic art and culture, since the Thracians were not only the bearers of this culture but also directly participated in its creation. THE THRACIAN TOMB NEAR THE VILLAGE OF SVESHTARI The Sveshtari tomb forms part of the natural archeological reserve of Sboryanovo situated in northeastern Bulgaria. The reserve includes the largest necropolis on the Balkans dating from the Early Hellenistic period. One of the studies puts forward the hypothesis that, if looked at from a particular angle, this accumu-