Of no less interest in the studyof the popoular art are the funereal steles with their great variety of reliefs. Here regional differences stand out clearly. In the lands of the ancient Greek colonies and in Thrace the influence of the gravestone sculpture of the Hellenistic provinces is very clearly felt, with its predominating scene of the funereal banquet.
To the south-wrest in the valleys of the Strouma and the Mesta there are traces of the tombstone sculpture of Macedonia with sculptured portraits and the figure of the Thracian Horseman, presenting the deceased as a hero. Finally in the lands to the north of the Balkan Range the Roman type of funereal steles are widespread, with their long inscriptions, and initially more modest ornamentation in relief, while portraits and other motifs were introduced later. Here too, in this large sphere of gravestone sculpture individual smaller regions appear, in which definite and constant types of funereal steles are found.
The presence of good soft limestone and crystal marbles in the mountainous regions contributed much to the development of sculpture. The remains of the big Roman quarries are visible to this day not far from the village of Reka Devnya, Varna district, and at the villages of Hotnitsa and Moussina, Turnovo district; they provided enough building material for the cities guided istanbul tours, as well as all that the stone-masons' workshops and sculptors' studios in Moesia could require. Thrace was supplied with good marble from the quarries in the Rhodope massif.
Roman period
In comparison with the architectural and sculpture monuments, remains of painting in the Roman period are quite scarce. It is true that the old traditions of decorating the walls of houses with stucco work and mosaics, and of ornamenting the tombs of eminent citizens with frescoes continued to exist.
At this time mosaics were particularly extensively used to ornament the floors of rich men's houses, the baths and other public buildings. Mosaics with a variety of decorative motifs, among which there are entire compositions, have been found at many places of recent years. Mention has already been made of the mosaics found at Oescus and numerous other finds of the sort may be enumerated. Amongthe best preserved murals, which date back to the end of the 4th century, the period of Theodosius I, are the murals in a tomb near the town of Silistra. This tomb is not a very big one, 3.30 x 2.60 m., with a height of 2.30. at its zenith. However, on passing through its low entrance the visitor's eyes are dazzled by the richness and variety of its interior decoration.
The perpendicular walls and the vaulted roof are so richly painted that not a single corner has been left untouched by the artist's brush. The couple, who were buried here, have been painted exactly opposite the entrance. Four wen and maid-servants flank them on each side, offering them different objects, connected with their toilet. The vault is covered with a network of circles and octagons, filled with the figures of birds, plant motifs and hunting scene. The murals of the tombs found near the Church of St. Sophia in Sofia show great variety in the system of decoration. However, they are the work of another art, namely, the art of the Early Christians.
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