Sculptured monuments representing myths of Moesia Inferior and Thrace

01 December, 2014 – 01 December, 2016

Author: Asst. Prof. Marina Koleva, PhD, Fine Arts Department

The new planned task, very much like the previous ones, will deal with the Roman statuary found in the Bulgarian lands, which in the Roman period were within the provinces of Moesia Inferior and Thrace. This time attention will be devoted to the monuments with representations of myths, which are quite numerous, both votive and burial. Many of these have been published, but usually the iconographic prototypes of scenes have not been sought, and at times their interpretations need a revision. These monuments feature the most popular representations of the labours of Hercules, for example, as well as myths associated with Dionysus, Apollo, Artemis and Athena. Their iconography, style and dating from the Roman period will be studied. An attempt will be made to situate them in Roman art of the imperial period and a parallel will be drawn not only between them and the monuments of the capital, but also with those from other Roman provinces. Which myths have been preferred for representation, in what contexts the monuments occur and how they have functioned in a provincial environment is what will be explored. Attention will be devoted to the question as to why representations of myths occur on votive monuments of all others. The people who have used and preferred them will be included and for the purpose, the information provided by the inscriptions on some of the artworks in relief will be added.
The issue has not been raised and worked on so far in Bulgarian scientific literature.