Neue Forschungen zum frühen Christentum in den Balkanländern

The goal of this publication is the complete, up-to-date presentation of the late antique and early Christian mosaics obtained or documented in Bulgaria. A first volume on wall paintings has already been published by the ÖAW in 1999. The current volume comprises a collection of publications resulting from a cooperation between Bulgarian regional museums and scholars, and was initiated by the Christian Archaeology research group, at that time under the leadership of Renate Pillinger with the Bulgarian mosaic specialist Vanja Popova of the Institute for Art of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAN) in Sofia. The publication starts with the background of the excavations. Like the already-published corpus on wall paintings, here too the sequence of individual monuments emerges from geographical situation. For each mosaic, the place where it was found is specified, as well as the find-context with a short description of the building or room in which it was found, who excavated it and when. Its state of preservation, the placement and form, technique, arrangement as well as figural and ornamental motifs are all treated. In the case of those comparative examples that have been identified, brief comments are offered with an attempt at interpretation. At the end of each contribution, a complete bibliography or the indication as “unpublished” appears – which suggests the need for an initial publication. Images and plans are included as far as is possible.
The excavation finds directly suggest a strong decline in the production of mosaics in the 6th century. No paviment that originates after the middle of the 6th century is known to this day. Of the 24 late antique mosaic inscriptions that have come to us, 19 are in Greek and five in Latin. As in the preceding era, most of the 4th century mosaics still come from the secular domain, distinguished residences and public buildings (above all bath complexes). As part of growing Christianity the picture, however, changes around the end of the 4th century in favor of the early Christian sacred buildings, whose floor mosaics now doubly surpass the quantity of those in private residential complexes. The first early Christian churches were largely furnished with stone slab flooring, but in the second half of the 4th century a mosaic décor has an unforeseen boom. The dominant mosaics of this time period are strictly geometrical compositions; these are well-suited for the long rectangular naoi and with their rhythmic, repeated floor composition, suitably escort the entrance of the clerics from the church entry to the altar. Sometimes figural motifs connected with the Christian faith are incorporated into floor mosaics laid out in the apse and/or the presbyterium. In addition, in many cases the area reserved for the clergy is laid out with opus sectile paviment. After the second half of the 4th century one can hardly distinguish between formal and compositional differences between mosaics of early Christian and secular buildings, which results from the operation of the same mosaic workshops for both spheres. Without a doubt, the purism of aniconic-geometrical decoration especially sprung from the sacred buildings.