Skip to content
TRACEKEEPERS
Menu
English

Choose language

Your Tracekeepers account

← Back to the collection

ARCHITECTURE AND LANDSCAPE

Alexandrovo

Alexandrovo: reading the horse and the hunt

The paintings show horsemen and hunters, with details of their clothing, weapons and horse equipment.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

PHOTOGRAPH OF THE ORIGINAL · CC BY 4.0

Documentary original · Exact correspondence

Detail of the hunting frieze from the original Alexandrovo tomb fresco, photographed by A. Cosentino at 2019. Photograph of the original fresco, not the museum replica. The human figure is not identified as Zalmoxis or as a king. The published photograph is preserved in its entirety, including its conservation elements.

A. Cosentino (2019) · CC BY 4.0

Source and provenance ↗Terms of use ↗
Detail of the hunting frieze from the original Alexandrovo tomb fresco, photographed by A. Cosentino at 2019.
PHOTOGRAPH OF THE ORIGINAL · CC BY 4.0

Documentary original · Exact correspondence

Detail of the hunting frieze from the original Alexandrovo tomb fresco, photographed by A. Cosentino at 2019. Photograph of the original fresco, not the museum replica. The human figure is not identified as Zalmoxis or as a king. The published photograph is preserved in its entirety, including its conservation elements.

A. Cosentino (2019) · CC BY 4.0

Source and provenance ↗Terms of use ↗

History and context

Riders and hunters ride along the frieze of the circular chamber. They carry spears, swords and different clothing, while the horse equipment is carefully represented. Painting allows us to observe objects that, in a display case, usually survive separated from their original position.

The hunt is not a photograph of an ordinary day: it occupies a funerary space built for a high-ranking person. The encounter between equestrian skill, clothing and dangerous animals communicates an image of authority, although the identity of the deceased remains unknown.

Evidence and interpretation

The murals allow you to study equestrian equipment; The identity of the deceased and the supposed signature of the artist remain interpreted.

Catalogue facts

Date
4th century BC c.
Location
Roshavata Chuka · Alexandrovo, Bulgaria

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 2 sections. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: .

Painted harnesses, excavated ornaments

Painted harnesses place the decorations on the horse's body. Its position helps to interpret metal pieces that the excavations recover isolated. Tunics, pants, spears and swords also appear: details that link the funerary frieze with the clothing and equipment of the horsemen.

A possible signature

A human profile engraved in a red area is accompanied by an inscription interpreted as "Kodzimases the skillful." It has been proposed that it is the name and portrait of the painter, although there is no certainty. The hunting scene also admits more than one reading: aristocratic skill, prestige of the deceased, and possible religious meanings.

Location and territory

Physical world map with routes of human evolutionPresent-day world coastline from Natural Earth in an equirectangular projection. The overlaid markers let you explore each milestone.Map base: Natural Earth 1:110m · public domain · present-day reference coastline

APPROXIMATE LOCATION

Roshavata Chuka · Alexandrovo, BulgariaMonument marker; does not locate a personal identity of the deceased.

Where it is held

Alexandrovo Tomb · Thracian Art Center of the Eastern Rhodopes

Item or group in the record · Site museum

Paintings preserved in the monument; The center displays a replica for your visit.

The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?

Your opinion helps us improve the museum. You can change it whenever you like.

Loading your rating…