The art produced by the people of Thrace, as indicated by the many precious objects found in Thracian tombs dating from the Bronze Ageonwards, was, like the culture itself, a mix of indigenous ideas and foreign influences. Although it can be difficult to distinguish local and imported high-value objects, typical features of Thracian artare the use of brightly coloured wall paintings to decorate tombs, the widespread use of metalvessels, especially for the burial of the deceased’s remains, and intricately manufactured jewellery pieces in precious metals. Finally, there was a particular appreciation for Greek black-figure pottery, with many of the finest examples of that genre surviving in Thracian tombs.
Thrace
The Thracian people were one of the oldest inhabitants of the vast territories of Eastern and Southeastern Europe during the late second and first millennia BCE, until they were gradually conquered by the Roman Empire in the 1st and 2nd centuries CE. Sadly, they failed to develop their own literacy, thus they left no written record of their history. Most of our knowledge of them nowadays is derived from Greek and Roman sources, many of which are of questionable accuracy, and more importantly from archaeological remains still found today in Thracian territories.
In order to grasp the significance of this longstanding culture, we are highly dependant on the legacies that ancient Thracians left behind in the form of visual data such as tombdecorations, metal vases, pottery, precious adornments and others. An in-depth look at the artefacts and archaeological finds creates an elaborate picture of the role that art played in the Thracian culture.
As a civilization composed of many independent communities (or tribes), situated on a crossroad between Europe and Asia, Thrace and its cultural development were a subject of constant alterations and foreign influences. Therefore any attempt to look at Thracian art as a homogenous and unaffected phenomenon would not be entirely accurate.
Tomb Painting
The deceased Thracians were either buried or cremated, and their remains were deposited in various burial structures ranging from basic pits in the ground to built graves, sarcophagi or monumental chamber tombs, which are found buried beneath a mound. The Thracian people held strong beliefs in the afterlife and naturally the interiors of such burial spaces were arranged accordingly to serve as an intermediate sacral space between this life and the next, provided with everything the deceased would need to continue his or her spiritual journey.
Often the walls of earlier tombs were decorated with simplified monochrome paintings in red and white colours, made from organic materials and continuously used throughout antiquity. Ever since prehistoric times the colour red and its hues were associated with death where a funerary context was concerned, and in tomb paintings red was used to depict the head and the torso of the human body, emphasizing their physical importance as containers of the soul and mind.
Some later examples of tomb paintings present more complex figural scenes and finer ornamentation with a more vibrant palette of white, black, red and yellow pigments. Scenes of everyday life, such as hunts, feasts, marital scenes were commonly present as well as various mythological and funerary themes. All of the aforementioned motifs can be traced back to the Archaic period and they were a fundamental part of the funerary iconography of the whole eastern Mediterranean region. The decoration of Thracian tombs varied significantly depending on the geographical location and its ethnic, political, commercial and cultural relations with near or distant cultures.
Often the walls of earlier tombs were decorated with simplified monochrome paintings in red and white colours, made from organic materials and continuously used throughout antiquity. Ever since prehistoric times the colour red and its hues were associated with death where a funerary context was concerned, and in tomb paintings red was used to depict the head and the torso of the human body, emphasizing their physical importance as containers of the soul and mind.
Some later examples of tomb paintings present more complex figural scenes and finer ornamentation with a more vibrant palette of white, black, red and yellow pigments. Scenes of everyday life, such as hunts, feasts, marital scenes were commonly present as well as various mythological and funerary themes. All of the aforementioned motifs can be traced back to the Archaic period and they were a fundamental part of the funerary iconography of the whole eastern Mediterranean region. The decoration of Thracian tombs varied significantly depending on the geographical location and its ethnic, political, commercial and cultural relations with near or distant cultures.
Metal Vases
Large numbers of metal vases of exquisite quality are regularly found during archaeological excavations on what was once supposed to be Thracian territories. They likely served a long life as prestigious objects of wealth and power, used during important occasions or sacred feasts before they were eventually placed in the ground. The abundance of such precious vessels in every rich burial suggests that in the Thracian culture they were also essential attributes that were to assist the deceased in the prospective afterlife and further ensure the continuity of his status and prosperity in the next life.
Small vessels, often part of drinking sets used in feasts or religious rites and ceremonies, such as phialai, bowls, rhyta, jugs, and strainers were frequently made of precious metals like gold or silver. Bronze, although often used as a substitute for gold, was also considered an expensive material, available only for the elite and was most commonly used for vessels larger in size such as hydriai, situlae, basins, craters, and pitchers. Large bronze vessels are repeatedly found in the graves of wealthy Thracians, serving as burial urns for the ashes of the deceased.
A frequently occurring shape in Thrace was the phiale, a concave shallow bowl without handles and generally with a central omphalos (navel). In everyday life, some deep phialai were used as wine drinking cups, but, in general, they served an important ritual function when pouring libations for the gods or deceased ancestors. Both the Achaemenid type phiale with glaring offset rim and shallow depth and the straight-rimmed Greek shape were familiar in Thrace. Many Thracian workshops adopted some of the foreign stylistic features but also incorporated their local stylistic traditions.
