Corpus der spätantiken und frühchristlichen Wandmalereien Bulgariens

With the present book the authors submit the first volume of a corpus comprising the late-antique and early byzantine wall paintings and mosaics of today's Bulgaria. The subject of this publication are the wall paintings, coming from various kinds of monuments like churches, tombs and profane buildings. The murals show decorative schemes and motifs widely spread in late antiquity. Very frequent -especially in churches - is the painted imitation of rich, marble-adorned walls. But there also exist figural paintings, e.g. the well-known faces from Zar Krum or the remains of the magnificent narrative cycles from the so-called Red Church in Perustica. The painted decoration of the late-antique tombs, altogether 35 of them assembled in the corpus, covers a wide range of motifs and patterns. There appears the owner of the grave surrounded by his servants not only at the famous tomb near Silistra, but also at tombs in Plovdiv and Ossenovo. Frequently found are neutral patterns including birds, flowers and garlands and finally there exists a group of tombs with the depiction of a cross as their main element. These tombs are centered in the necropolis of Serdica, today's Sofia. For the first time all known painted tombs belonging to this large cemetery are presented together, complemented by a full bibliography. Beyond that it is now possible to publish the water-colour- copies of the murals that have been prepared around the turn of the century as well as two newly found tombs. The text is richly illustrated and complemented by various indices, thus documenting in great detail the late-antique mural paintings on Bulgarian soil.