Greek Painting (Classics)

Introduction

The scope of this article under the heading of Greek painting is broad. In effect, this article takes on the almost impossible, and inevitably controversial, task of covering vast territories throughout the Mediterranean in areas where Greeks at different periods cast their influence, directly or indirectly, whether through trade, migration, or intermarriage. It raises issues ranging from identity and ethnicity to acculturation and hybridity that we can recognize as taking many forms. “Mediterraneanisms” is a term sometimes employed rather effectively, but complexities are legion and the study of paintings on a contextual basis is highly recommended. Yet for all the inclusivity of coverage attempted here, two major areas are omitted: the Aegean Bronze Age and the Etruscans (except in passing), because Oxford Bibliographies follows the traditional pattern in treating them as separate units. This article is structured to begin with general overviews and bibliographic tools. Next comes a selection of basic works on literary sources, followed by a section on color and technical aspects. The bulk of the article is then organized according to conventional chronological divisions (Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic) with subdivisions set along relevant geographic lines, moving according to chronological division in loosely clockwise fashion from Archaic Greece as a starting point to Hellenistic Italy at the end. The aim is to provide something of a road map through an unstructured maze that includes not only mural paintings but also selective groupings of vase paintings, an assortment of painted stelae, plaques, altars, klinai, and, in the Hellenistic period, even a few pictorial mosaics and textiles that are arguably dependent on monumental painting. Finally, there is an excursus that introduces as case studies two important Roman monuments that are widely held to be inspired by Greek prototypes.

General Overviews and Bibliographic Tools

Swindler 1929 is the first comprehensive study of ancient painting, from caves to Christians, in a masterful single volume that is still worth consulting for its many insights. The field has, however, developed since then both in terms of the greatly expanded corpus and by virtue of different scholarly approaches. The current tendency is to focus on regions or chronological periods within them according to scholarly expertize. Indicative is Pollitt 2014 with its individually authored chapters that begin with the Aegean Bronze Age, more often treated separately in the early 21st century, and end with Roman Imperial times to include regions both in the East and West, and chronological divisions within them. Important is the way Etruscan painting is integrated into the whole. Pollitt 2014 will be an obvious starting point for current research. Also to be recommended is the more narrowly defined Scheibler 1994 for its overview in relatively compact format of Greek painting, Archaic through Hellenistic. Many will find Lydakis 2004 intriguing for the great swath the author cuts through the medium from the Bronze Age down to Renaissance reception of ancient painting. AIPMA produces the bibliographic publication titled Apelles, which is a useful guide to early-21st-century research.

AIPMA: Association Internationale pour la Peinture Murale Antique.
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This association, founded in 1989, regularly publishes a bibliographic bulletin on ancient paintings that is titled Apelles. It is a useful serial of broad scope, though, like its counterpart on mosaics, AIEMA (Association Internationale pour l’Étude de la Mosaïque Antique), it is heavily weighted toward the Roman period in accord with the nature of the discipline. AIPMA also sponsors international conferences on ancient painting, most recently in 2013 at Athens, Greece, which are followed by published proceedings.
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Lydakis, Stelios. 2004. Ancient Greek painting and its echoes in later art. Translated by John Davis. Athens, Greece: Melissa.
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A handsome book, translated from the Greek (Αρχαία ελληνική ζωγραφική και οι απηχήσεις της στους νεότερους χρόνους) that covers material from the Bronze Age through the Renaissance. The author seeks to reconstruct Greek painting along traditional lines but takes an extreme and rather outmoded position in viewing Roman paintings as essentially little more than copies of Greek originals. It is on Antiquity’s reception in the Renaissance and beyond that the author has most to offer.
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Pollitt, Jerome J., ed. 2014. The Cambridge history of painting in the classical world. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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An excellent, up-to-date resource with chapters written by experts in the field, ranging from ancient art criticism to major regional and chronological epochs covering the Aegean Bronze Age to Late Imperial Rome. A must for current research. Includes CD-ROM.
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Scheibler, Ingeborg. 1994. Griechische Malerei der Antike. Munich: C. H. Beck.
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A useful handbook. Evidence from literary sources is combined with material culture across artistic media to take into account not only Greek monumental painting but also paintings on clay, stone, and wood. All basic issues are addressed with a good assortment of black-and-white illustrations.
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Swindler, Mary Hamilton. 1929. Ancient painting from the earliest times to the period of Christian art. New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press.
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A comprehensive study aimed at student usage, still to be consulted despite being much out of date. A masterful work for its time. Reprinted as recently as 1979 (New York: AMS Press).
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Literary Sources

Pollitt 1974 and Pollitt 1990 provide compilations of sources and documents that are very useful for students at all levels. Pollitt 2014 offers a succinct overview of major issues of ancient art criticism. For more-comprehensive studies, Reinach 1985 and Rouveret 1989 are indispensable. Isager 1991 offers an excellent commentary on the writings of Pliny.

Isager, Jacob. 1991. Pliny on art and society: The Elder Pliny’s chapters on the history of art. Translated by Henrik Rosenmeier. Odense University Classical Studies 17. Odense, Denmark: Odense Univ. Press.
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Also in paperback, published in 1998; most recently republished in 2010 (New York: Routledge). A detailed commentary on Pliny’s text (paintings on pp. 114–140). Highly recommended.
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Pollitt, Jerome J. 1974. The ancient view of Greek art: Criticism, history, and terminology. Yale Publications in the History of Art 25. New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press.
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An excellent discussion of literary sources. A very useful handbook.
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Pollitt, Jerome J. 1990. The art of ancient Greece: Sources and documents. Rev. ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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Originally published in 1965 (The Art of Greece, 1400–31 B.C., Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall), this work conveniently collects in English translation the major ancient sources on Greek art, including painting. Of general usefulness.
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Pollitt, Jerome J. 2014. Painting in Greek and Graeco-Roman art criticism. In The Cambridge history of painting in the classical world. Edited by Jerome J. Pollitt, 288–301. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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The author succinctly discusses major issues in ancient sources, including aesthetic connoisseurship, use of color, shading and draftsmanship, and the impact of the Greco-Roman heritage. An excellent exposition.
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Reinach, Adolphe J. 1985. Textes grecs et latins relatifs à l’histoire de la peinture ancienne: Recueil Milliet. Rev. ed. Edited by Agnès Rouveret. Collection Deucalion. Paris: Macula.
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New edition based on Reinach’s original publication of 1921. An essential collection of ancient sources for the scholar.
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Rouveret, Agnès. 1989. Histoire et imaginaire de la peinture ancienne (Ve siècle av. J.-C.–Ier siècle ap. J.-C.). Bibliothèque des Écoles Françaises d’Athènes et de Rome 274. Rome: Écoles Française de Rome.
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An important scholarly tool containing extensive discussion of literary sources that address ancient authors’ grasp of technical and stylistic aspects of paintings. Following an overview of the material evidence—Greek, Italic, and Roman that is accompanied by regrettably few illustrations—the author considers the influence of Stoic philosophers on Hellenistic and Roman art criticism.
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Color and Technical Aspects

Polychromy, apparently introduced from Egypt before the mid-6th century, played an important role in Greek painting. Cutting-edge technology in scientific analysis and photography is revolutionizing scholarly approaches to the field in the early 21st century. A solid introduction to scientific analysis of ancient painting is provided in Kakoulli 2009. Brecoulaki 2006 discusses pigment analysis of many Macedonian tomb paintings, while Brecoulaki 2014 investigates uncommon pigments used across time in Greece. Eastaugh, et al. 2013 addresses terminology and pigment compounds and optical microscopy of historical pigments. Tiverios and Tsiafakis 2002 and Descamps-Lequime 2007 are edited volumes with essays on a wide range of issues involving color. In addition, detailed analyses of color from ancient paintings appear regularly in scientific journals, particularly in Greece and Italy, but they are only selectively included here.

Brecoulaki, Hariclia. 2006. La peinture funéraire de Macédoine: Emplois et fonctions de la couleur IVe–IIe s. av. J.-C. 2 vols. and CD-ROM. Meletemata 48. Athens, Greece: National Hellenic Research Foundation.
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A major work with excellent illustrations that provides detailed analysis of pigments and their applications (especially Vol. 1, pp. 395–462) in conjunction with detailed discussion of Macedonian funerary painting.
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Brecoulaki, Harikleia. 2014. “Precious colours” in ancient Greek polychromy and painting: Material aspects and symbolic values. Revue Archéologique 57.1: 3–35.
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An investigation of uncommon pigments used in Greece from the Bronze Age through Hellenistic times on the basis of scientific analysis combined with textual sources. Use of materials such as lapis lazuli and cinnabar is taken to signify high social status, ritual display, or both.
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Descamps-Lequime, Sophie, ed. 2007. Peinture et couleur dans le monde grec antique. Papers presented at a conference held 10 and 27 March 2004 at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. Paris: Musée du Louvre.
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An important collection of essays by experts in the field, with emphasis on what were then new finds, more than half of which concern Macedonian tomb paintings. Otherwise, a few southern Italian paintings are presented as well as painted artifacts, including glass, mosaics, terra-cotta figurines, and sculpture.
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Eastaugh, Nicholas, Valentine Walsh, Tracey Chaplin, and Ruth Siddall. 2013. The pigment compendium: A dictionary and optical microscopy of historical pigments. 3d ed. NewYork: Routledge.
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A solid reference book in two parts. The first addresses terminology and pigment compounds, complete with ancient sources, artifact analysis, and physical properties of pigments. The second is a technical introduction to the component compounds that occur within pigments. The book is aimed at a readership of scientists, historians, and conservators.
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Kakoulli, Ioanna. 2009. Greek painting techniques and materials from the fourth to the first century BC. London: Archetype.
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An excellent, highly readable, scientifically oriented overview of Hellenistic painting. Moreover, the author provides a solid introduction to the entire craft, with definitions and also a brief summary of techniques in the Bronze Age, Egypt, and Etruria.
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Tiverios, Michael A., and Despina S. Tsiafakis, eds. 2002. Color in ancient Greece: The role of color in ancient Greek art and architecture (700–31 B.C.); Proceedings of the conference held in Thessaloniki, 12–16 April 2000. Thessaloniki, Greece: Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki Press.
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An important collection of essays on color—many in English, a few in Greek or German—that range from treatises by ancient authors to the use of color across media. There is also a historiographic overview of rediscovery of color on artifacts, as well as sections on painting techniques and chemical analysis of pigments and their sources.
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Vase Painting in Relationship to Monumental Painting

Interconnections between vase painting and monumental painting concern some vasologists and virtually all specialists in monumental painting. Cohen 2006 emphasizes cross-fertilization among ancient media, and Mugione and Benincasa 2012 is an edited a volume with different perspectives on the Chigi Vase. Stansbury-O’Donnell 2014 most recently explores the importance of vase painting; together with literary references, it serves to reconstruct the bulk of classical Greek painting. Significantly, Pontrandolfo and Rouveret 1992 [cited under Paestum (Italic Paistom, Greek Poseidonia), Lucania] recognizes that Lucanian vase painters and wall painters shared workshops. Wehgartner 1983, Koch-Brinkmann 1999, Wehgartner 2002, and Mertens 2006 discuss the white-ground medium, which might be called a laboratory in the painting medium for its aesthetic insights. (see also entries under Classical Painting in Greece; on Hellenistic polychrome tempera vase painting in the West, see Vase Painting in Relationship to Monumental Painting: The South Italian and Sicilian Polychrome Tempera Technique).

Cohen, Beth, ed. 2006. The colors of clay: Special techniques in Athenian vases. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum.
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Essays by experts on various vase-painting techniques employed in Athens from 550 to c. 340 BCE. Important also is the emphasis on cross-fertilization among artistic media.
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Koch-Brinkmann, Ulrike. 1999. Polychrome Bilder auf weissgrundigen Lekythen: Zeugen der klassischen griechischen Malerei. Studien zur Antiken Malerei und Farbgebung 4. Munich: Biering & Brinkmann.
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Discussion of the development of white-ground lekythoi, the nature of the materials, and the likely influence of wall painting. Comparison is made with “free painting” around the Mediterranean, especially as found in Etruria and Macedonia. Consideration of literary passages leads to insights on parallel developments in white ground and wall painting. Included are attempts at reconstructing coloring of certain lekythoi.
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Mertens, Joan R. 2006. White ground. In The colors of clay: Special techniques in Athenian vases. Edited by Beth Cohen, 185–238. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum.
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Masterful overview of Attic white-ground pottery through time. The author proposes that an evolution of this pottery genre and monumental wall painting drew them closer together from the late 6th to the 5th centuries.
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Mugione, Eliana, and Alfonsina Benincasa, eds. 2012. L’Olpe Chigi: Storia di un agalma; Atti del convegno internazionale, Salerno, 3–4 giugno 2010. Ergasteria 2. Salerno, Italy: Pandemos.
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The Protocorinthian Chigi Olpe, now in the Villa Giulia in Rome, is investigated by various experts in Italian- or English-language papers to show how its importance has grown with new discoveries of early Greek painting, including at Kalapodi. Among these papers, Niemeier, et al. 2012 and Hurwit 2012 (both cited under Archaic Painting in Greece) explore evidence to suggest that the earliest wall painters were vase painters, proceeding to consider the degree of their interdependence.
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Stansbury-O’Donnell, Mark. 2014. Reflections of monumental painting in Greek vase painting in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. In The Cambridge history of painting in the classical world. Edited by Jerome J. Pollitt, 143–169. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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The author discusses reconstruction of classical wall painting primarily on the basis of vase paintings of the period. Highly recommended.
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Wehgartner, Irma. 1983. Attisch weissgrundige Keramik: Maltechniken, Werkstätten, Formen, Verwendung. Keramikforschungen 5. Mainz, Germany: Philipp von Zabern.
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The author sees use of line and color in the white-ground genre as a kind of evolution from drawing to painting. She discusses how techniques and iconography were explored by white-ground painters, recognizable in different workshops and often employed on different shapes, but in simultaneous operation.
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Wehgartner, Irma. 2002. Color on classical vases. In Color in ancient Greece: The role of color in ancient Greek art and architecture (700–31 B.C.); Proceedings of the conference held in Thessaloniki, 12–16 April 2000. Edited by Michael A. Tiverios and Despina S. Tsiafakis, 89–96. Thessaloniki, Greece: Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki Press.
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A useful overview of color in red figure, together with techniques involving outline drawing and colored areas. The category of Huge Lekythoi adds an important attempt at body contouring that the author reasonably links to panel painting.
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Archaic Painting in Greece

An early tradition of Greek wall painting is well established, with abundant primary material surviving from the Aegean Bronze Age. Whether or not anything survived through the Dark Ages is debatable, however, and scholarship conventionally accepts a new beginning of the craft in the 7th or perhaps the late 8th century. Evaluation of the Archaic-period craft relies on scrappy bits of primary evidence from far-flung locations combined with secondary material in the form of painted stelae and plaques together with sketchy literary references. A basic source for an overview is Hurwit 2014. Controversy focuses on the relationship of vase painters and “free” (or monumental) painters in the early period, a topic addressed in discussions in Amyx 1983; Hurwit 2012; Hurwit 2014; Niemeier, et al. 2012; Papapostolou 2002; and Robertson 1975. Further inquiry might extend to Archaic korai whose drapery is often painted with figural scenes.

Amyx, Darrell A. 1983. Archaic vase-painting vis-à-vis “free” painting at Corinth. In Ancient Greek art and iconography. Edited by Warren G. Moon, 37–52. Wisconsin Studies in Classics. Madison: Univ. of Wisconsin Press.
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The author’s conclusion is that “Corinthian vase-painting was not to any significant extent dependent on mural paintings as models for direct copying” (p. 49), although the free use and adaptation of stock formulae may have been “borrowed” as it was in other media.
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Hurwit, Jeffrey M. 2012. Boularchos, the Chigi painter, and the interdependence of free-painting and vase-painting in the seventh century. In L’Olpe Chigi: Storia di un agalma; Atti del convegno internazionale, Salerno, 3–4 giugno 2010. Edited by Eliana Mugione and Alfonsina Benincasa, 103–110. Ergasteria 2. Salerno: Pandemos.
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The author discusses the evidence, ranging from the literarily attested and presumably Greek painter Boularchos to the painter of the Protocorinthian Olpe and the “Kalapodi Master” (see also Niemeier, et al. 2012). Observing the interdependence of vase painters and mural painters, the author concludes that early graphic artists were both vase painters and muralists, the latter unlikely to have specialized at an early date.
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Hurwit, Jeffrey M. 2014. The lost art: Early Greek wall and panel painting, 760–480 B.C. In The Cambridge history of painting in the classical world. Edited by Jerome J. Pollitt, 66–93. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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Excellent overview with judicious speculation on artistic interconnections between the East and West across media.
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Niemeier, Wolf-Dietrich, Barbara Niemeier, and Ann Brysbaert. 2012. The Olpe Chigi and new evidence for Early Archaic Greek wall-painting from the Oracle Sanctuary of Apollo at Abai (Kalapodi). In L’Olpe Chigi: Storia di un agalma; Atti del convegno internazionale, Salerno, 3–4 giugno 2010. Edited by Eliana Mugione and Alfonsina Benincasa, 79–86. Ergasteria 2. Salerno, Italy: Pandemos.
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A partial reconstruction of the Kalapodi frieze initiates discussion on its significance in the history of monumental painting, on the one hand, and its relationship to polychrome vase painting, on the other.
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Papapostolou, Ioannis A. 2002. Colour in Archaic painting. In Color in ancient Greece: The role of color in ancient Greek art and architecture (700–31 B.C.); Proceedings of the conference held in Thessaloniki, 12–16 April 2000. Edited by Michael A. Tiverios and Despina S. Tsiafakis, 53–64. Thessaloniki, Greece: Aristotle Univ. Thessaloniki Press.
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The author sees early vase painting and “free” painting as running parallel courses, being quite different both in origin and function. He also argues for independence of early painting from the Mycenaean poetic tradition.
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Robertson, Martin. 1975. A history of Greek art. 2 vols. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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The author, here as elsewhere, advocates the Northeast Peloponnese as the birthplace of early “free” painting, on the basis of ceramics in combination with written sources. He believes that though the first free painters were originally vase painters, they soon developed their own specialization. See especially pp. 49–56 of Vol. 1.
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Attica

Monumental painting from Attica has so far not been recovered, and for the Archaic period we must rely on several types of ancillary material. Richter 1961 includes painted grave stelae along with those in relief, to which may be added Keesling 1999. Despinis 2009 discusses a painted disc, Karoglou 2010 collects painted votive pinakes, and Mommsen 1997 publishes Exekian grave slabs. Finally, Junker 1993 discusses a few metope-like slabs from Athens.

Despinis, Giorgos. 2009. Ο δίσκος του εθνικού μουσείου αριθ. 93: “ΜΝΕΜΑ ΤΟΔ’ΑΙΝΕΟ ΣΟΦΙΑΣ ΙΑΤΡΟ ΑΡΙΣΤΟ.” In Κερμάτια Φιλίας. Vol. 2. Edited by Stella Drougou, Despoina Eugenidou, Charálampos Kritzás, et al., 3–11. Festschrift for Ioannis Touratsoglou. Athens, Greece: Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Numismatic Museum.
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Description and discussion of a marble disk, probably a funerary monument now in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, that preserves a preliminary sketch. It is one of several of the kind known also from Paros and elsewhere.
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Junker, Klaus. 1993. Der ältere Tempel im Heraion am Sele: Verzierte Metopen im architektonischen Kontext. Arbeiten zur Archäologie. Cologne: Böhlau Verlag.
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The author, in a wide-ranging discussion, notes several large-scaled, metope-like Archaic painted plaques, most from different parts of Athens, as well as a further plaque said to be from Attica, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The author considers it likely that several of them had an architectural function (p. 166).
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Karoglou, Kyriaki. 2010. Attic pinakes: Votive images in clay. BAR International Series 2104. Oxford: Archaeopress.
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Fundamental study of Attic votive pinakes and related material, now in various museums, as products of the local ceramic industry. At least one is often thought to be a metope (p. 47). Solid exploration of the relationship among the graphic arts: pinakes, vase painting, and “free” painting.
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Keesling, Catherine M. 1999. Endoios’s painting from the Themistoklean wall: A reconstruction. Hesperia 68.4: 509–548.
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Important discussion and then-new reconstruction of the painted Neilonides grave stela base that bears the inscription of the sculptor Endoios.
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Mommsen, Heide. 1997. Exekias. Vol. 1, Die Grabtafeln. Mainz, Germany: Philipp von Zabern.
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Fundamental publication of the grave slabs attributed to Exekias that faced built tombs in the Athenian Keramikos: one fragmentary set in the Antikensammlung of Berlin, the other in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. Important study of organization of the ceramic craft.
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Richter, Gisela M. A. 1961. The Archaic gravestones of Attica. London: Phaidon.
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The standard work. Noteworthy among the fragmentary painted grave stelae from Archaic Athens is the lone intact specimen, the stela of Lyseas now in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens (no. 70).
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The Corinthia (Greek Korinthia)

The northeastern part of the Peloponnese is often associated with early stages of monumental painting. Evidence derives from scattered fragments in large scale at Isthmia through smaller-scale altars to painted wooden panels and clay plaques. Broneer 1971 presents the striking remains from Isthmia’s early temple. Shifting scale, Broneer 1947 and Broneer 1950 discuss painted altars from Corinth, while Korka 2013 examines a remarkable painted sarcophagus from the region of Tenea. Important evidence of the painterly craft in the Corinthia is preserved in greatest abundance, however, among painted clay and wooden plaques. On the clay plaques, see Furtwängler 1885 and Geagan 1970. Orlandos 1965 introduces the wooden plaques from Pitsa, to which Brecoulaki 2014 adds preliminary analysis of their pigments.

Brecoulaki, Harikleia. 2014. “Precious colours” in ancient Greek polychromy and painting: Material aspects and symbolic values. Revue Archéologique 57.1: 3–35.
DOI: 10.3917/arch.141.0003Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
In anticipation of a full study, the author offers preliminary analysis of colors on the Pitsa panels in their contemporaneous framework (pp. 15–19).
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Broneer, Oscar. 1947. The Corinthian Altar Painter. In Special issue: The thirty-second report of the American excavations in the Athenian agora. Hesperia 16.3: 214–223.
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Discussion of the best-known painted altar from Corinth, now in the Archaeological Museum of Ancient Corinth, the fragmentary “Pygmy and Crane Altar” by the so-called Corinthian Altar Painter.
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Broneer, Oscar. 1950. Terracotta altars from Corinth. Hesperia 19.4: 370–375.
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Additional painted altar fragments, mostly poorly preserved, from Corinth, also in the local museum. Note is made of altars from colonies in Magna Graecia that may have been introduced there from Corinth [see also Devambez 1972, cited under Archaic Greek Painting in West Greece (Magna Graecia)].
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Broneer, Oscar. 1971. Isthmia. Vol. 1, The Temple of Poseidon. Princeton, NJ: American School of Classical Studies at Athens.
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Primary publication of fresco fragments associated with the Archaic Temple (pp. 33–34). The material, having long been undervalued, is now playing a major role in light of newer discoveries [see also Niemeier, et al. 2012, cited under Kalapodi (Ancient Abai), Phokis].
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Furtwängler, Adolf E. 1885. Königliche Museen zu Berlin: Beschreibung der Vasensammlung im Antiquarium. Berlin: W. Spemann.
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Catalogue of the Penteskouphia fragments now in Berlin (nos. 347–955, 3920–3928). Others are in the Louvre and in Corinth itself. Related exemplars come from Perachora.
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Geagan, Helen A. 1970. Mythological themes on the plaques from Penteskouphia. Archäologischer Anzeiger 85:31–48.
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Study of selected Penteskouphia figural pinakes, scattered among museums in Berlin, Paris, and Corinth, with emphasis on specimens having mythological subject matter.
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Korka, Elena. 2013. Η γραπτή πώρινη σαρκοφάγος Φανερωμένης Χιλιομοδίου Κορινθίας. In The Corinthia and the Northeast Peloponnese: Topography and history from prehistoric times until the end of Antiquity; Proceedings of the international conference held at Loutraki, March 26–29, 2009. Edited by Konstantinos Kissas and Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier, 305–309. Athenaia 4. Munich: Hirmer Verlag.
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Preliminary publication of a well-preserved and unique Archaic limestone sarcophagus with painted lid interior from the territory of ancient Tenea, now under study in the Archaeological Museum of Ancient Corinth.
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Orlandos, Anastasios K. 1965. Pitsa. In Enciclopedia dell’arte antica, classica e orientale. Vol. 6, Pec–Saq. Edited by Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli and Giovanni Becatti, 200–206. Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana.
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Preliminary description of fragmentary painted wooden panels from Pitsa, now in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, which await further study.
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Kalapodi (Ancient Abai), Phokis

A fragmentary painting from the South Temple of the sanctuary of Apollo at Kalapodi (Temple 6) has given new direction to the subject of early “free” painting in Greece. Niemeier, et al. 2012 considers the painting in conjunction with the Protocorinthian Chigi Vase. Hellner 2014 provides a restored interior view of the temple, with a hypothetical wall painting that incorporates the extant fragments.

Hellner, Nils. 2014. Räumliche Führung am Beispiel der spätgeometrischen und archaischen Süd-Tempel von Abai/Kalapodi. In Die Architektur des Weges: Gestaltete Bewegung im gebauten Raum; Internationales Kolloquium in Berlin vom 8.–11. Februar 2012. Edited by Dietmar Kurapkat, Peter I. Schneider, and Ulrike Wulf-Rheidt, 289–307. Diskussionen zur Archäologischen Bauforschung 11. Regensburg, Germany: Schnell & Steiner.
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In considering the development of the temple sequence, the author offers a reconstruction of the temple interior, fleshing out the few extant wall fragments with figures from contemporaneous vase paintings. An illuminating exercise, though readers must bear in mind its hypothetical character.
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Niemeier, Wolf-Dietrich, Barbara Niemeier, and Ann Brysbaert. 2012. The Olpe Chigi and new evidence for Early Archaic Greek wall-painting from the Oracle Sanctuary of Apollo at Abai (Kalapodi). In L’Olpe Chigi: Storia di un agalma; Atti del convegno internazionale, Salerno, 3–4 giugno 2010. Edited by Eliana Mugione and Alfonsina Benincasa, 79–86. Ergasteria 2. Salerno, Italy: Pandemos.
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Tentative partial reconstruction of the fresco by the excavation team, on the basis of surviving fragments. Its close affinity to the Corinthia via the battle frieze of the Chigi Olpe is emphasized, as are similarities in style and technique to the figural fragments of the Archaic Temple at Isthmia. Preliminary technical analysis shows the paintings to be executed a secco (painted on dry plaster), a factor that points toward links to the Egyptian world.
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Kalydon, Aetolia

Painted terra-cotta plaques from Kalydon are published in preliminary form in Dyggve 1948. More-detailed publication is wanted.

Dyggve, Ejnar. 1948. Das Laphrion: Der Tempelbezirk von Kalydon. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab: Arkaeologisk-Kunsthistoriske Skrifter 1.2. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
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Preliminary publication of several sets of painted terra-cotta plaques (metopes) associated with one or another of the temples from the Laphrion (pp. 149–164, 205–211, 236–239). Material is comparable to the metopes at Thermon. The subject needs revisiting in light of more-recent studies.
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Thermon, Aetolia

The plaques from several temples at Thermon, some of them apparently metopes, play a significant role in studies of early architecture as well as in Archaic painting. Papapostolou 2012 provides up-to-date discussion in conjunction with their contexts. Stucky 1988 makes the important observation that one plaque was repainted in Antiquity.

Papapostolou, Ioannis A. 2012. Early Thermos: New excavations 1992–2003. Translated by Miriam Caskey. Library of the Archaeological Society at Athens 277. Athens, Greece: Archaeological Society at Athens.
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A condensed and slightly revised version of the author’s 2008 publication, Θερμός: Το μέγαρο Β και το πρώιμο ιερό; Η ανασκαφή 1992–2003. The painted Thermon plaques, divided into the large “metope” series—traditionally associated with the Temple of Apollo and now in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens—and a series associated with the small temple of Apollo Lyseius and now in the Museum at Thermon are discussed in terms of early cults at Thermon.
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Stucky, Rolf A. 1988. Die Tonmetope mit den drei sitzenden Frauen von Thermos: Ein Dokument hellenistischer Denkmalpflege. Antike Kunst 31.2: 71–78.
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Convincing argument that the large metope with the enthroned triad is a fairly faithful Hellenistic rendering of an Archaic original.
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Archaic Painting in Western Anatolia / Ionia

The tradition of wall painting stretches back millennia in Anatolia, for which Bingöl 1997 provides an overview. Archaic tomb paintings, albeit mostly damaged, form a significant corpus relevant throughout the Mediterranean. Özgen and Öztürk 1996 and Summerer and von Kienlin 2010 introduce much relevant material. Baughan 2013 collects the evidence surrounding painted klinai, while Steingräber 2010 draws east-west parallels among Archaic paintings. The wide-spread hypothesis that Ionian painters worked in Archaic Etruria is discussed in Steingräber 2014. Additionally, architectural terra-cottas occasionally add painted figures in Anatolia at Gordion and Larisa on Hermos, as they do in the West [see Castoldi 1998, Lentini 1995, and Pflug 2006, all cited under Archaic Greek Painting in West Greece (Magna Graecia)]. Åkerström 1966 (cited under Gordion, Phrygia) is the indispensable starting point for study of architectural terra-cottas of Asia Minor. While most are mold-made painted reliefs, the occasional appearance of purely painted figures may be noteworthy, given the predilection for the format at Sicilian Gela and Giardini Naxos.

Baughan, Elizabeth P. 2013. Couched in death: Klinai and identity in Anatolia and beyond. Wisconsin Studies in Classics. Madison: Univ. of Wisconsin Press.
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A masterful compilation of klinai that touches also on wall paintings and broadens to include material from Macedonia to Etruria. An indispensable resource.
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Bingöl, Orhan. 1997. Malerei und Mosaik der Antike in der Türkei. Kulturgeschichte der Antiken Welt 67. Mainz, Germany: Philipp von Zabern.
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A slender but important book with an overview of Archaic to early classical paintings in late-20th-century Turkey (pp. 33–57). An updated, expanded version is much to be desired. An excellent starting point.
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Özgen, Ilknur, and Jean Öztürk, eds. 1996. The Lydian treasure: Heritage recovered. Istanbul: Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Culture.
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A beautifully illustrated overview of material from a series of ransacked Lydian tombs, much of whose pillaged contents, including significant chunks of wall paintings, had then been recently repatriated. Attempts are made to reassemble paintings and artifacts in their original settings. Material is placed in context of Anatolian traditions.
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Steingräber, Stephan. 2010. Etruscan tomb painting of the Archaic period and its relationship to the painting in Ionian Asia Minor. In Tatarlı: Renklerin dönüsü = The return of colours = Rückkehr der Farben. Edited by Lâtife Summerer and Alexander von Kienlin, 354–367. Istanbul: Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
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Striking comparisons are drawn between paintings of Etruria and western Asia Minor in the Late Archaic period. Briefly explored is the strong cultural influence exerted by Ionia on Etruria in what is sometimes called an East Greek or Ionian koiné.
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Steingräber, Stephan. 2014. Etruscan and Greek tomb painting in Italy, c. 700–400 B.C. In The Cambridge history of painting in the classical world. Edited by Jerome J. Pollitt, 94–142. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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The author accepts the hypothesis reached by others that some Tarquinian tombs may have been painted by immigrant Ionian artists (pp. 101–118).
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Summerer, Lâtife, and Alexander von Kienlin, eds. 2010. Tatarlı: Renklerin dönüsü = The return of colours = Rückkehr der Farben. Istanbul: Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
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While introducing the repatriated painted beams from Tatarlı, this trilingual volume in Turkish, German, and English with its various accompanying articles provides an essential introduction to Archaic paintings of Anatolia. Also included are results of scientific analysis.
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Aktepe and Harta, Lydia

Among a series of painted chamber tombs savagely looted by tomb robbers in the 1960s are parts of several painted cycles that were recovered and repatriated. Özgen and Öztürk 1996 presents the primary material, while Roosevelt and Luke 2010 gives a brief overview.

Özgen, Ilknur, and Jean Öztürk, eds. 1996. The Lydian treasure: Heritage recovered. Istanbul: Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Culture.
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Illustrated discussion (pp. 36–46) of recovered paintings (formerly at the Metropolitan Museum of Art) repatriated to the Uşak Museum of Archaeology. Paintings are placed in context of Anatolian traditions. Problems of retouching at the hands of art dealers are discussed.
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Roosevelt, Christopher H., and Christina Luke. 2010. Painted tomb chambers in Lydia. In Tatarlı: Renklerin dönüsü = The return of colours = Rückkehr der Farben. Edited by Lâtife Summerer and Alexander von Kienlin, 342–353. Istanbul: Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
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Brief overview of the painted tombs of Lydia, with comments on the broader significance of the iconography.
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Clazomenae (Greek Klazomenai), Ionia

Paintings on Clazomenian sarcophagi, though closely related to vase painting, are also linked to monumental painting in terms of scale and execution. Cook 1981 is fundamental, and Cook 1998 provides a useful synopsis.

Cook, Robert M. 1981. Clazomenian sarcophagi. Forschungen zur Antiken Keramik 2.3. Mainz, Germany: Philipp von Zabern.
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Terra-cotta coffins (mainly black figure, fewer red figure) that are found predominantly at Ionian sites, especially Clazomenae, and are currently scattered throughout museums of the world. More-recent discoveries broaden geographical horizons to include local imitations in Aegean Thrace. The author notes interconnections with other media, though in what manner “free” painting might enter the mix is not addressed.
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Cook, Robert M. 1998. Clazomenian sarcophagi. In East Greek pottery. By Robert M. Cook and Pierre Dupont, 121–128. Routledge Readings in Classical Archaeology. London and New York: Routledge.
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Brief overview of the genre in context of East Greek pottery, where both East Greek and Attic influences are detected.
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Gordion, Phrygia

The so-called Painted House yielded remains of figured wall paintings, on which Mellink 1980 gives a preliminary report. Brownlee 2009 adds an intriguing essay on reconstructions of the paintings by Piet de Jong, and Åkerström 1966 records a painted plaque antefix. Consideration in conjunction with paintings of the numerous graffiti at the site, whether “doodles” or sketches, might also be recommended.

Åkerström, Åke. 1966. Die architektonischen Terrakotten Kleinasiens. Svenska Institutet i Athen: Skrifter. Lund, Sweden: Gleerup.
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A painted, semicircular plaque antefix, a stray find that surely represents a much-larger corpus (pp. 144, 151). Otherwise, architectural terra-cottas here, as elsewhere, were commonly mold-made in relief, and we must reckon with the possibility that painted figures are incidental, perhaps tucked in as fillers. Reference should be made to painted architectural terra-cottas at Larisa on Hermos (see the chapter “Larisa am Hermos”).
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Brownlee, Ann Blair. 2009. His golden touch: The Gordion drawings of Piet de Jong. Expedition 51.2: 39–44.
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Partial and in some areas fanciful reconstruction of segments of the paintings from the “Painted House” by an illustrious archaeological illustrator.
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Mellink, Machteld J. 1980. Archaic wall paintings from Gordion. In From Athens to Gordion: The papers of a memorial symposium for Rodney S. Young; Held at the University Museum, the third of May, 1975. Edited by Keith DeVries, 91–98. University Museum Papers 1. Philadelphia: Univ. Museum, Univ. of Pennsylvania.
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Preliminary introduction to a selection of very fragmentary paintings from the “Painted House,” now in storage in the Ankara Archaeological Museum, that culturally and stylistically may fall somewhere between “Anatolian–East Greek” and “Greco-Persian.” Impressive is the variety of subject matter in different scales. Final publication is awaited.
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Karaburun and Kızılbel, Lycia

Two looted chamber tombs at Karaburun and Kızılbel, dated roughly fifty years apart, document Persian-period paintings in Lycia. Paintings remain in situ, though major segments from Karaburun have in the early 21st century been brutally removed by looters. Mellink 1998 contains descriptions of the earlier tomb at Kızılbel. Miller 2010 provides an overview of both tombs, neither of which is accessible.

Mellink, Machteld J. 1998. Kızılbel: An Archaic painted tomb chamber in northern Lycia. Archaeological Monographs. Philadelphia: Univ. Museum, Univ. of Pennsylvania.
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Detailed, important publication of the Kızılbel tomb, whose faded painting cycle, the earliest known in western Anatolia, occupies a central place in regional studies where cultural survivals from the Hittite world bridge the way to understanding developments in the birth of East Greek art.
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Miller, Stella G. 2010. Two painted chamber tombs of northern Lycia at Kızılbel and Karaburun. In Tatarlı: Renklerin dönüsü = The return of colours = Rückkehr der Farben. Edited by Lâtife Summerer and Alexander von Kienlin, 322–329. Istanbul: Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
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Introduction to the two tombs, with an emphasis on cultural hybridity. A scale model of the Karaburun tomb, complete with frescoes, is installed in the archaeological museum of Elmalı, a project undertaken before early-21st-century looting of key segments of the painting cycle. Final publication is awaited.
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Larisa on Hermos, Aeolia

Larisa has yielded a few painted or partially painted architectural terra-cottas that are described in Åkerström 1966.

Åkerström, Åke. 1966. Die architektonischen Terrakotten Kleinasiens. Svenska Institutet i Athen: Skrifter. Lund, Sweden: Gleerup.
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Paintings on architectural terra-cottas from Larisa on Hermos, otherwise mainly in relief, include a sima fragment in the “Rhodian technique” (pp. 48, 50) and a human profile from “Wagenfries VIII” (pp. 52–53) that finds parallels in Etruscan art.
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Samos

An incised and probably once-painted block is the subject of considerable debate, with opinions ranging from recognizing it as a very early architectural frieze to downgrading it to a mere doodle. Freyer-Schauenburg 1974 assigns it to Hekatompedon II, an attribution questioned by the author of Kienast 2001.

Freyer-Schauenburg, Brigitte. 1974. Platten mit Ritzzeichnungen. In Bildwerke der archaischen Zeit und des strengen Stils. By Brigitte Freyer-Schauenburg, 184–185. Samos 11. Bonn, Germany: Rudolf Habelt.
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The author discusses the incised warrior figures, which are conventionally interpreted as preliminary drawings for a painted frieze and are assigned to the second temple of Hera, Hekatompedon II, as the earliest evidence for the Ionian frieze.
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Kienast, Hermann J. 2001. Der Kriegerfries aus dem Heraion von Samos. In Άγαλμα. Edited by Dimitrios Pandermalis, Michael Tiverios, and Emmanuel Voutyras, 13–20. Festschrift for Giorgos Despinis. Thessaloniki, Greece: Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki Press.
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The author emphasizes the uncertainty of assigning the incised warrior block to the Hekatompedon or, indeed, to any other structure.
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Tatarlı, Phrygia

Paintings from a ravaged wooden chamber tomb (formerly in the Bavarian State Archaeological Collection in Munich) have been partially reconstructed and repatriated to the Afyon Archaeological Museum, where they joined other remains rescued by authorities from the tomb. Basic is Summerer and von Kienlin 2010. Draycott 2011 takes a broad look at the meaning of the convoy motif.

Draycott, Catherine M. 2011. Funerary or military convoy? Thoughts on the Tatarlı convoy painting and meanings of “Greco-Persian” convoys. In Kelainai–Apameia Kibotos: Stadtentwicklung im anatolischen Kontext; Akten des internationalen Kolloquiums, München, 2.–4. April 2009. Edited by Lâtife Summerer, Askold Ivantchik, and Alexander von Kienlin, 55–61. Kelainai 1. Bordeaux, France: Ausonius.
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Consideration of the meaning of convoys as a funerary theme, with Tatarlı as a starting point.
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Summerer, Lâtife, and Alexander von Kienlin, eds. 2010. Tatarlı: Renklerin dönüsü = The return of colour = Rückkehr der Farben. Istanbul: Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
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The latest word on repatriated painted beams from the devastated wooden tomb, although much else remains under study. Paintings are placed in context of Anatolian painting. A full-scale model of the tomb, with paintings recovered so far, was constructed for the exhibition.
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Archaic Greek Painting in Persia

Scholars take different positions on a fragmentary incised stone plaque from Persepolis in Greek style, now housed in a Persepolis storeroom. Roaf and Boardman 1980 situates it in the tradition of Greek panel paintings, while Miller 1997 considers it simply an idle “doodle.”

Miller, Margaret C. 1997. Athens and Persia in the fifth century BC: A study in cultural receptivity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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The author considers the plaque, together with another piece in similar technique, to be mere “doodles” executed by Greek sculptors (p. 102).
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Roaf, Michael, and John Boardman. 1980. A Greek painting at Persepolis. Journal of Hellenic Studies 100:204–206.
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The authors, reconstructing the incised drawing as a preliminary sketch, conclude that the once-painted plaque was probably the work of an expatriate Greek.
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Archaic Greek Painting in Egypt

The long-standing tradition of painting in Pharaonic Egypt is both extensive and well known. For the Persian period a few isolated panels attest to the craft, which is otherwise scarcely known from the period. One is a painted wooden panel from the Iseum at Saqqara (also Saqqâra or Sakkara), mostly faded and now known only from a watercolor made shortly after discovery. It is generally believed to be the work of an Ionian painter, though the precise time and circumstances of its painting, Late Archaic to classical, remain subject to debate, notably between Nicholls 1979 and Hemelrijk 1984. There is also a classical painting from the necropolis of Saqqara (see Martin 1973, cited under Classical Painting in Egypt).

Hemelrijk, Jaap M. 1984. Caeretan hydriae. Forschungen zur Antiken Keramik, 2d ser.: Kerameus 5. Mainz, Germany: Philipp von Zabern.
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The author, commenting on the Saqqara panel (pp. 201–202), suggests a date not later than 530–515 BCE and assigns it to the same East Greek “school” and generation as the painters of the Caeretan hydriae, who immigrated to Etruria from Ionia, possibly Phocaea.
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Nicholls, Richard V. 1979. Panel showing procession of foreigners with a cow and bull. In The tomb of Hetepka and other reliefs and inscriptions from the Sacred Animal Necropolis, North Saqqâra, 1964–1973. Edited by Geoffrey Thorndike Martin, 74–78. Texts from Excavations 4. London: Egypt Exploration Society.
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The author, in a full discussion of the Saqqara panel (pp. 74–78, cat. no. 284), detects residual Archaic features that lead him to date it to the mid- to late 5th century.
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Archaic Greek Painting in West Greece (Magna Graecia)

Some scholars argue that certain Archaic Etruscan tombs, notably at Tarquinia, were painted by immigrant Ionian painters. The subject cannot be dealt with here, though it is, in fact, germane, and reference is simply made to Steingräber 2014. Otherwise, material evidence for Archaic painting relies heavily on painted architectural terra-cottas in Sicily. The corpus of painted antefixes at Gela in Castoldi 1998 is outstanding. Pflug 2006 contains descriptions of remarkable painted terra-cotta friezes from Giardini Naxos, while Lentini 1995 focuses on painted antefixes from the same site. Note should also be made of the occasional painted architectural terra-cottas in Archaic Anatolia/Ionia (see Gordion, Phrygia). Finally, Devambez 1972 discusses one of several known painted altars, this one from an unknown Sicilian source.

Castoldi, Marina. 1998. Le antefisse dipinte di Gela: Contributo allo studio della pittura siceliota arcaica; Scavi a Gela, campagne 1951–1961, 1973–1975. Milan: Edizioni Et.
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A large corpus of semicircular, painted plaque antefixes from Gela, now in the archaeological museum of Gela. Analogies are made with East Greek style and iconography.
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Devambez, Pierre. 1972. Une “arula” sicilienne au Louvre. Monuments et Mémoires de la Fondation Eugène Piot 58.1: 1–23.
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The author discusses a painted Sicilian altar, once in a private collection and now in the Louvre, in terms of its relationship to written sources and, visually, to Archaic South Italian artifacts.
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Lentini, Maria Costanza. 1995. Il culto di Dioniso a Naxos: Due antefisse dipinte con figure di Sileni. Bollettino d’Arte 92 (July–August): 49–56.
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Two painted plaque antefixes from Giardini Naxos, now in the Archaeological Museum of Naxos, are discussed from typological and technical points of view. Comparison is made to Attic red figure vases of the same period.
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Pflug, Hermann. 2006. Bemalte Terrakottaplatten aus Naxos: Überlegungen zu Figurenfriesen an archaischen Bauten in Sizilien. In Deliciae fictiles III: Architectural terracottas in ancient Italy; New discoveries and interpretations; Proceedings of the international conference held at the American Academy in Rome, November 7–8, 2002. Edited by Ingrid Edlund-Berry, Giovanna Greco, and John Kenfield, 452–472. Oxford: Oxbow.
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Discussion of painted terra-cotta plaques from Giardini Naxos, now in the Archaeological Museum of Naxos. Believed to have been made and painted locally, they are apparently an idiosyncratic production limited to the site itself, though seemingly related to those from Thermon (see Papapostolou 2012, cited under Thermon, Aetolia). Comparison is also made to contemporaneous wall paintings of Paestum and Tarquinia.
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Steingräber, Stephan. 2014. Etruscan and Greek tomb painting in Italy, c. 700–400 B.C. In The Cambridge history of painting in the classical world. Edited by Jerome J. Pollitt, 94–142. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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The author, in discussing the style and iconography of Archaic Tarquinian tombs, affirms the hypothesis reached by others—that some tombs may have been painted by immigrant Ionian artists (pp. 101–118).
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Classical Painting in Greece

Literary testimonia together with Attic vase painting dominate discussion of classical monumental painting, for which very little primary evidence survives. Stansbury-O’Donnell 2014 offers a concise overview of this approach, while Moreno 1987 represents the traditional Meisterforschung point of view, which seeks to identify great artists. Potentially of considerable significance is figural painting in a late classical chamber tomb in Macedonia, briefly noted in Karamitrou-Mentessidi 2008. Posamentir 2006 presents important secondary evidence in the form of Athenian painted grave stelae. The corpus is further enlarged by a handsome group of painted marble vessels described in Brecoulaki, et al. 2014. See also Vase Painting in Relationship to Monumental Painting.

Brecoulaki, Hariclia, George Kavvadias, and Giovanni Verri. 2014. Colour and luxury: Three classical painted marble pyxides from the collection of the National Archaeological Museum, Athens. In Transformations: Classical sculpture in colour. Edited by Jan Stubbe Østergaard and Anne Marie Nielsen, 152–165. Meddelelser fra Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, n.s. 16. Copenhagen: Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek.
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The authors suggest that pictorial traits on a group of late-5th-century marble pyxides, received from private collections by the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, may derive from large-scale panel painting. Important also is the use of the precious lapis lazuli, ancient sappheiros, a pigment not previously recorded in classical painting.
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Karamitrou-Mentessidi, Georgia. 2008. Aiani: A guide to the archaeological sites and the museum. Aiani-Kozani, Greece: Archaeological Museum of Aiani.
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Figures are painted on a wall of the looted early-4th-century Chamber Tomb Alpha (p. 51, but not illustrated) at Aiani in Upper Macedonia (Elimeia/Elimiotis). Constituting important testimony to pre-Hellenistic painting practices in Macedonia, they await full publication.
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Moreno, Paolo. 1987. Pittura greca: Da Polignoto ad Apelle. Edited by Maria Christiana Poma. Milan: Arnaldo Mondadori.
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Handsomely illustrated volume with considerable breadth that places emphasis on identifying “schools” and big-name artists known from literary sources, in a traditional Meisterforschung approach.
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Posamentir, Richard. 2006. Bemalte attische Grabstelen klassischer Zeit. Studien zur Antiken Malerei und Farbgebung 7. Munich: Biering & Brinkmann.
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Discussion of classical Athenian painted grave stelae, heretofore much neglected, as well as closely related contemporaneous relief stelae. Iconographic roots of the painted stelae appear to lie among white-ground lekythoi.
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Stansbury-O’Donnell, Mark. 2014. Reflections of monumental painting in Greek vase painting in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. In The Cambridge history of painting in the classical world. Edited by Jerome J. Pollitt, 143–169. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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Reconstructing classical wall painting primarily on the basis of vase paintings of the period. A solid summary of this approach, with extensive bibliography on earlier research.
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Classical Painting in Western Anatolia / Ionia

Following the bright interval represented by Archaic painting (see Archaic Painting in Western Anatolia / Ionia), evidence for the classical period is now coming to light at Milas (ancient Mylasa), for which Bingöl 2014 gives a brief notice. Otherwise, Tancke 1989 discusses a painted coffer of the late classical Nereid Monument from Xanthos that speaks to the existence of other painterly activity in the region.

Bingöl, Orhan. 2014. Der Architekturstil und seine Vorläufer. In Antike Malerei zwischen Lokalstil und Zeitstil: Akten des XI. internationalen Kolloquiums der AIPMA (Association Internationale pour la Peinture Murale Antique), 13.–17. September 2010 in Ephesos. Vol. 1. Edited by Norbert Zimmermann, 239–243. Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften.: Philosophisch-Historische Klasse 468. Vienna: Verlag de Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften.
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The author illustrates the important and remarkably well-preserved tomb painting at Milas (ancient Mylasa), dated by the excavators to the early 4th century and attributed to Hecatomnus, satrap of Caria and founder of the Hecatomnid dynasty (p. 242 and figure 16).
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Tancke, Karin. 1989. Figuralkassetten griechischer und römischer Steindecken. PhD diss., Univ. of Mainz.
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The author discusses a faintly preserved painted head (prosopo) in a coffer of the Nereid Monument at Xanthos, now in the British Museum (pp. 12–14). It stands at the head of a series that includes painted exemplars from the chamber tomb in the Ostrusha/Shipka Tumulus (see Valeva 2005, cited under Ostrusha/Shipka).
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Classical Painting in Cyprus

Little pre-Roman painting is known from Cyprus, though the craft must have been widespread on this island of mixed populations coming from much of the eastern Mediterranean. Exceptional and of great importance is a well-preserved marble painted sarcophagus from a looted chamber tomb at Larnaka (ancient Kition). Flourentzos 2011 introduces the monument, while Georgiou 2009 and Georgiou 2010 expand discussion historically and iconographically.

Flourentzos, Pavlos. 2011. Two exceptional sarcophagi from Larnaka. Nicosia, Cyprus: Department of Antiquities.
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The author focuses on the painted architectural, or “temple-shaped,” Sarcophagus A of imported marble from Tomb 128, in this slender, rather sketchy volume that, however, includes scientific analysis of pigments. The author reads a mythological interpretation into its paintings.
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Georgiou, Giorgos. 2009. Three stone sarcophagi from a Cypro-classical tomb at Kition. In Actes du colloque “Chypre à l’époque hellénistique et impériale”: Recherches récentes et nouvelles découvertes, Nanterre-Paris, 25–26 septembre 2009. Edited by Anne-Marie Guimier-Sorbets and Démétrios Michaelidès, 113–139. Cahiers du Centre d’Études Chypriotes 39. Paris: Centre d’Études Chypriotes.
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Recognizing the trio of sarcophagi in Tomb 128 as representing three generations of a Phoenician family, the author traces ideological shifts toward Hellenizing that culminate in Sarcophagus A, determined to be the work of Greek craftsmen. Various iconographical interpretations for Sarcophagus A are clearly described (pp. 125–136), though the precise meaning of certain scenes is left open.
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Georgiou, Giorgos. 2010. Κίτιον Τάφος 128: ΄Ενα ταφικό σύνολο της Κυπρο-Κλασικής περιόδου με τρεις λίθινες σαρκοφάγους. Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus 2010:399–435.
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Here, in a fuller essay, the author suggests Athenian tragedy as the iconographical source of paintings on Sarcophagus A (pp. 406–409). Detailed photographs and reconstructions are provided together with contextual material.
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Classical Painting in Egypt

The classical period in Egypt is represented by a painted wooden plaque from the Memphite necropolis of Saqqâra (also Saqqara or Sakkara), published in Martin 1973 (see also Nicholls 1979, cited under Archaic Greek Painting in Egypt, for discussion of a plaque of disputed date, either Archaic or classical).

Martin, Geoffrey T. 1973. Excavations in the Sacred Animal Necropolis at North Saqqâra, 1971–2: Preliminary report. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 59:5–15.
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A partially preserved painted wooden board, possibly from furniture, shows an enthroned female in Greek dress with Greek inscription. Uncovered in excavations at Sakkara, it is now in the British Museum. The author speculates on an Ionian artist.
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Classical Painting in West Greece (Magna Graecia)

The subject of classical painting in the western Greek world, indeed in the Greek world at large, is dominated by the “Tomb of the Diver” (la tomba del tuffatore) at Paestum, about which much has been written. Otherwise, painting is known in only isolated instances in the West at Capua and Ruvo. Tinè Bertocchi 1964 is still a basic resource.

Tinè Bertocchi, Fernanda. 1964. La pittura funeraria Apula. Monumenti Antichi della Magna Grecia 1. Naples, Italy: Gaetano Macchiaroli Editore.
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Excellent illustrated catalogue with extended discussions of Apulian painted tombs of all periods. An indispensable resource.
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Color and Technical Aspects

Technical issues are raised in individual publications of West Greek monuments, but an overview of evidence appears in Brecoulaki 2001, while Rouveret 2002 discusses use of color in South Italian painting.

Brecoulaki, Hariclia. 2001. L’esperienza del colore nella pittura funeraria dell’Italia preromana (V–III secolo a.C.). Materiae 6. Naples, Italy: Electa.
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Publication of pigment analysis of selected pre-Roman monuments, late 5th through early 3rd centuries, across Italy. Results of scientific analysis appear in an appendix authored by specialists.
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Rouveret, Agnès. 2002. Function and uses of color in South Italian painting of the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. In Color in ancient Greece: The role of color in ancient Greek art and architecture (700–31 B.C.); Proceedings of the conference held in Thessaloniki, 12–16 April 2000. Edited by Michael A. Tiverios and Despina S. Tsiafakis, 191–199. Thessaloniki, Greece: Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki Press.
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Discussion of uses and functions of colors in South Italian tomb paintings over time, as well as the potential impact of polychromatic ceramics. The author also evaluates written sources compared with archaeological documents in light of late-20th-century discoveries in South Italy as well as Macedonia.
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Capua (Italian Santa Maria Capua Vetere), Campania

Capua, a city of Etruscan origin, was destined to become a powerhouse in the Samnite period. Among early monuments, a rare 5th-century tomb painting, now known only through a drawing, is published in Benassai 2001. Cerchiai 2008 further investigates its iconography.

Benassai, Rita. 2001. La tomba dei Giocatori di Dama. In La pittura dei Campani e dei Sanniti. By Rita Benassai, 29–32. Atlante Tematico di Topografia Antica, Supplementi 9. Rome: “L’Erma” di Bretschneider.
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Chamber Tomb III in Località Quattro Santi near ancient Capua (pp. 29–32, catalogue C.6), known as “The Tomb of Checkers Players” (“la tomba dei giocatori di dama”), featured a painting, now known only from a drawing, with seated male players at a board game, a motif bearing undeniable similarity to Attic vase painting (pp. 218–221). The reconstructed tomb assemblage includes Attic red-figure vases. The author emphasizes the anomalous nature of the tomb and its decoration.
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Cerchiai, Luca. 2008. Gli Etruschi e i Pessoi. In Alba della città, alba delle immagini? Da una suggestione di Bruno d’Agostino. Edited by Francis Croissant, 91–109. Tripodes 7. Athens, Greece: Scuola Archeologia Italiana di Atene.
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The author speculates convincingly on a possible political interpretation of the unique Capuan tomb painting.
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Paestum (Italic Paistom, Greek Poseidonia), Lucania

The “Tomb of the Diver” (la tomba del tuffatore), a cist grave now in the archaeological museum of Paestum, was initially described by its excavator, Mario Napoli, in Napoli 1970. It figures in virtually every discussion of Greek painting, in the course of which Greek and Etrusco-Italic features are weighed against eschatological interpretation. Pontrandolfo, et al. 2004 offers a brief, well-reasoned discussion of multiple sources that inform the cycle. Discussion continues with Holloway 2006, viewing the tomb as basically Greek with Italic touches, whereas Robinson 2011 identifies the deceased as Italic. Important technical evidence comes from Cipriani, et al. 2002, which discusses evidence for possible ancient repainting.

Cipriani, Marina, Corrado Gratziu, Alessandra Moscato, and Giuliana Tocco Sciarelli. 2002. The “Diver’s Tomb”: Mineralogical and petrographical features. In Color in ancient Greece: The role of color in ancient Greek art and architecture (700–31 B.C.); Proceedings of the conference held in Thessaloniki, 12–16 April 2000. Edited by Michael A. Tiverios and Despina S. Tsiafakis, 179–189. Thessaloniki, Greece: Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki Press.
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Close analysis of the surfaces has clarified aspects of the composition of the plasters and the pictorial films. Results are reportedly limited and questions remain, but it appears that repainting occurred in Antiquity.
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Holloway, R. Ross. 2006. The Tomb of the Diver. American Journal of Archaeology 110.3: 365–388.
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The author, in discussing previous interpretations, argues that the imagery projects a comforting “vision of death as a rapid passage to safety” (p. 384). While building on a tradition of tomb painting widespread in Etruria, the paintings are seen as adapted from Attic vase painting.
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Napoli, Mario. 1970. La tomba del tuffatore: La scoperta della grande pittura greca. Spazio e Tempo. Bari, Italy: De Donato.
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Handsome primary publication with ample colored photographs, detailed historical background, and contextual information. Included are technical details, including preliminary sketches and artistic evaluation with stylistic comparisons that contextualize the paintings while recognizing their symbolic meaning as indebted to Pythagoreanism. The author recognizes the hands of two master Greek painters.
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Pontrandolfo, Angela, Agnès Rouveret, and Marina Cipriani. 2004. The Tomb of the Diver. In The painted tombs of Paestum. By Angela Pontrandolfo, Agnès Rouveret, and Marina Cipriani, 19–24. Salerno, Italy: Pandemos.
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Succinct, well-illustrated chapter noting the cycle’s indebtedness to multiple cultural sources in the West (Etruscan and Campanian) as well as among Greek models. The tomb is described as “. . . a remarkable example of a cultural interference favored by Paestum’s position at the frontier between Great Greece and the Etruscan-Campanian world” (p. 20). Excellent introduction to the paintings.
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Robinson, Edward G. D. 2011. Identity in the Tomb of the Diver at Poseidonia. In Communicating identity in Italic Iron Age communities. Edited by Margareta Gleba and Helle W. Horsnaes, 50–72. Oxford: Oxbow.
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The author focuses on the krater painted on a wall as an indigenous shape, from which, on the basis of the problematic “pots equal people” premise, he concludes that the deceased was of Italic origin, coming from somewhere south of Poseidonia.
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Ruvo di Puglia, Apulia

The semichamber tomb known as the Tomb of the Dancers (la tomba delle danzatrici), now in the Naples National Archaeological Museum, has been much discussed since its discovery in the early 19th century. Gadaleta 2002 is a searching analysis of the tomb and its paintings.

Gadaleta, Giuseppina. 2002. La tomba delle danzatrici di Ruvo di Puglia. Quaderni di Ostraka 6. Naples, Italy: Loffredo.
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Thorough study of the tomb of a well-equipped warrior. Useful is discussion of various interventions and restorations since discovery close to two hundred years ago. In an iconographic analysis, the author seeks to demonstrate that the cycle shows the geranos (crane dance), associated with Theseus and carrying eschatological significance, rather than the threnos (dance lamentation), which is otherwise often proposed. The definitive publication, with lengthy bibliography, though better illustrations can be found elsewhere.
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Hellenistic Painting in Greece (except Macedonia)

The corpus of Hellenistic Greek painting is growing rapidly. Currently anchored by tomb paintings of Macedonia and Thrace, it also embraces material found throughout the eastern Mediterranean that, collectively, forms a widely acknowledged koiné. Miller 2014 is an overview. Of particular interest are the fragmentary murals from domestic context that iconographically link the worlds of the living and the dead at Delos and Rhodes as well as at Knidos and Priene in Ionia. (see Hellenistic Painting in Western Anatolia / Ionia).

Miller, Stella G. 2014. Hellenistic painting in the eastern Mediterranean, mid-fourth to mid-first century B.C. In The Cambridge history of painting in the classical world. Edited by Jerome J. Pollitt, 170–237. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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Up-to-date overview of figural painting throughout the eastern Mediterranean, with reference also to related material in other media. A good starting point.
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Color and Technical Aspects

Kakoulli 2009 provides an excellent introduction to scientific analysis of Hellenistic paintings in general. Analyses of individual monuments are otherwise scattered selectively throughout primary publications.

Kakoulli, Ioanna. 2009. Greek painting techniques and materials from the fourth to the first century BC. London: Archetype.
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Excellent introduction to scientific analysis, primarily of Hellenistic painting, complete with tables and photomicrographs throughout the text and followed by a group of appendixes.
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Boeotia

Wall paintings and painted clay larnakes of Bronze Age Thebes are geographical “ancestors” of the isolated painted Hellenistic cist grave at Tanagra, reported in Fabricius 1885. Otherwise, Aravantinos 2010 illustrates an intriguing painted “portrait” stela from the lower town of Thebes. The scanty surviving evidence is important witness to what must have been a lively production of material culture, as suggested by the contemporaneous output of vase painters and coroplasts.

Aravantinos, Vassilios. 2010. The Archaeological Museum of Thebes. Athens, Greece: John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation.
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A painted, inscribed male bust framed like a pinax or “portrait” from Thebes (p. 321). Apparently late Hellenistic in date, it is now in the Archaeological Museum of Thebes. Publication is awaited.
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Fabricius, Ernst. 1885. Ein bemaltes Grab aus Tanagra. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Athenische Abteilung 10:158–164.
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Preliminary report on wall paintings, long in storage in the Archaeological Museum of Schimatari, from a much-damaged and looted Hellenistic cist grave. Paintings are particularly interesting for representing both masculine and feminine paraphernalia. No final publication has appeared.
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Delos

The fragmentary surviving murals, many on view in the Archaeological Museum of Delos, have appeared only piecemeal in preliminary reports and guidebooks apart from the “House of the Comedians” (Bezerra de Meneses 1970). Otherwise, Delorme 1964 discusses a “public” painting from a palaestra. Alabe and Bezerra de Meneses 2010 gives a brief but useful overview of the corpus, while Zapheiropoulou 1998 offers a selection of the most-famous examples. And finally, Vallois 1913 anchors discussion with painted pinakes listed in the Delian sacred inventories. A further line of inquiry might include the numerous late Hellenistic ship graffiti spread out across the island.

Alabe, Françoise, and Ulpiano T. Bezerra de Meneses. 2010. La peinture. In Guide de Délos. 5th ed. Edited by Philippe Bruneau and Jean Ducat, 115–124. Paris: Éditions de Boccard.
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Useful, brief overview of a selection of figured paintings, some illustrated. A good starting point.
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Bezerra de Meneses, Ulpiano T. 1970. Le revêtement mural. In L’îlot de la Maison des comédiens. By Philippe Bruneau, Claude Vatin, Ulpiano T. Bezerra de Meneses, et al., 151–193. Exploration Archéologique de Délos 27. Paris: Éditions de Boccard.
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The only final publication of paintings from controlled excavations on Delos comes from the “House of the Comedians.” Some scenes may be inspired by New Comedy. Of great interest to theater studies as well as to history of painting.
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Delorme, Jean. 1964. Sur une frise peinte de Délos. Pallas: Revue d’Études Antiques Toulouse 12:19–47.
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Extensive discussion of the chariot frieze from a palaestra (here, the “Palestre du lac”; now more commonly called the “Palestre de granit”). Parallels drawn with iconography in other media.
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Vallois, René. 1913. Les Πίνακες Déliens. In Mélanges Holleaux: Recueil de mémoires concernant l’antiquité grecque offert à Maurice Holleaux en souvenir de ses années de direction à l’École Française d’Athènes (1904–1912). Edited by Auguste Picard, 289–299. Paris: Auguste Picard.
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Discussion of entries listed as painted pinakes in the important and highly informative temple inventories of the Hellenistic period.
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Zapheiropoulou, Photini. 1998. Delos: The testimony of museum exhibits. Translated by Daphne Kapsambelis. Athens, Greece: Adam Editions.
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Good color illustrations with catalogue entries of a small selection of extant paintings (pp. 212–219).
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Demetrias, Magnesia, Thessaly

The treasure trove of more than three hundred painted grave stelae discovered long ago at Demetrias, most of which are housed in the Archaeological Museum of Volos, remains under study, though a few are familiar from general publications on Hellenistic painting. Arvanitopoulos 1909 is the initial descriptive publication that continues in following years, while Arvanitopoulos 1928 offers a selection with watercolor illustrations. An interim study on a long-term Franco-German publication project appears in Graeve and Helly 1987. Rouveret 2004 examines two stelae from the group now in the Louvre.

Arvanitopoulos, Apostolos S. 1909. Θεσσαλικά Μνημεία. Vol. 1, Περιγραφή των εν τω Αθανασακείω Μουσείω Βόλου γραπτών στηλών των Παγασών. Athens, Greece: Εστία.
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The first segment of Arvanitopoulos’s catalogue of stelae, nos. 1–216. A descriptive overview, still indispensable for specialists in the early 21st century despite the poor quality of the sparse illustrations. The remainder of the catalogue, nos. 217–312, appears in issues 3 and 4 of Πολέμων for the years 1947, 1949, and 1949–1950. A useful prosopographical summary of the stelae is in Πολέμων 5 (1952–1953).
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Arvanitopoulos, Apostolos S. 1928. Αι γραπταί στήλαι Δημητριάδος-Παγασών. Library of the Archaeological Society at Athens 23. Athens, Greece: Archaeological Society at Athens.
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A useful selection of important stelae together with watercolor illustrations of some of the best exemplars.
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Graeve, Volkmar von, and Bruno Helly. 1987. Recherches récentes sur la peinture grecque. In Datation-caractérisation des peintures pariétales et murales. Edited by François Delamare, Tony Hackens, and Bruno Helly, 17–33. Pact 17. Ravello, Italy: Centre Universitaire Européen pour les Biens Culturels.
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Technical observations regarding the Demetrias stelae, including photographic analysis of stone surfaces with their pigments, employing state-of-the-art technology at the time.
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Rouveret, Agnès. 2004. Stèles de Démétrias. In Peintures grecques antiques: La collection hellénistique du Musée du Louvre. By Agnès Rouveret, 17–28. Trésors du Louvre. Paris: Fayard.
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Detailed study of two stelae from Demetrias in the Louvre. Notable also for the pigment analysis that is provided.
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Eretria, Euboea

Wealthy Eretria has yielded several Macedonian tombs, of which one, the so-called Tomb of the Erotes, once boasted figural paintings on walls and furniture. Huguenot 2008 studies the tomb in great detail, while Huguenot 2010 gives a useful, brief synopsis in conjunction with an exhibition catalogue on the site as a whole.

Huguenot, Caroline. 2008. La tombe aux Érotes et la tombe d’Amarynthos: Architecture funéraire et présence macédonienne en Grèce centrale. 2 vols. Eretria 19. Lausanne, Switzerland: École Suisse d’Archéologie en Grèce.
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The author provides a wide-ranging and important study of the “Tomb of the Erotes” in its historical context, together with the now-faded paintings on walls and furniture. Much relevant material is adduced.
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Huguenot, Caroline. 2010. Ο μακεδονικός τάφος των Ερώτων. In Ερέτρια: Ματιές σε μια αρχαία πόλη. Edited by Nicholas Kaltsas, Sylvian Fachard, Athanasia Psalti, and Mimika Giannopoulou, 336–345. Athens, Greece: Kapon Editions.
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The catalogue, appearing simultaneously in English as Eretria: Insights into an Ancient City, provides a convenient overview of the tomb, its paintings, and portable finds.
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Rhodes

Ongoing excavations in the city of Rhodes are yielding numerous antiquities, many still unpublished. Konstantinopoulos 1986 reports briefly on fragmentary bichrome- and polychrome-figured wall paintings from rescue excavations of a Hellenistic house. Kreeb 1999 takes discussion a step further in advance of definitive publication. An important addition to the pictorial repertoire common to the domestic and funerary realms.

Konstantinopoulos, Grigoris. 1986. Αρχαία Ρόδος: Επισκόπηση της ιστορίας και της τέχνης. Athens, Greece: Cultural Foundation of the National Bank.
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On pp. 150–151, brief presentation of the friezes from the Hellenistic house, partially illustrated.
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Kreeb, Martin. 1999. Γραπτές σκηνές σε κονιάματα της Ρόδου. Paper presented at an international symposium held 24–29 October 1993 in Rhodes, Greece. In Ρόδος 2.400 xρόνια: Η πόλη της Ρόδου απο την ιδρυσή της μέχρι την κατάληψη απο τους Τούρκους (1523). Vol. 1. Edited by Euangelia Kypraiou, 201–206. Athens, Greece: Ministry of Culture.
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Discussion, partially illustrated (p. 25), of the four different themes represented by the friezes, together with copious comparanda.
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Hellenistic Painting and Pictorial Mosaics in Macedonia

Macedonian barrel-vaulted chamber tombs (Macedonian tombs per se) and cist graves are a major source of Hellenistic painting. Brecoulaki 2006 is an indispensable resource for the expanding corpus, and Miller 2014 discusses many of these paintings primarily from an iconographical point of view. On a narrower scale, Sismanides 1997 focuses on painted klinai, while Brecoulaki 2007 considers issues of perspective in Macedonian paintings. Note should also be made of an early-4th-century painting at Aiani (see Karamitrou-Mentessidi 2008, cited under Classical Painting in Greece). Salzmann 1982, an overview of ancient pebble mosaics, introduces the pictorial mosaics from Pella. (see the chapter “Pella”) In a theoretical mode, Palagia 2014 hypothesizes that individual Macedonian tomb paintings stand behind certain Roman paintings. Readers should be aware that primary publications are mainly in Greek.

Brecoulaki, Hariclia. 2006. La peinture funéraire de Macédoine: Emplois et fonctions de la couleur IVe–IIe s. av. J.-C. 2 vols. and CD-ROM. Meletemata 48. Athens, Greece: National Hellenic Research Foundation.
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A comprehensive study of Macedonian painted funerary monuments, which are thoroughly discussed archaeologically, historically, and scientifically. A landmark publication, beautifully illustrated, that should be consulted for all Macedonian tomb painting.
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Brecoulaki, Hariclia. 2007. Suggestion de la troisième dimension et traitement de la perspective dans la peinture ancienne de Macédoine. Paper presented at a conference held 10 and 27 March 2004 at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. In Peinture et couleur dans le monde antique. Edited by Sophie Descamps-Lequime, 80–93. Paris: Musée du Louvre.
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Discusses experimentation with trompe l’oeil, foreshortening and depth perception occurring well in advance of theoretical-perspective applications of later times.
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Mangoldt, Hans von. 2012. Makedonische Grabarchitektur: Die Makedonischen Kammergräber und ihre Vorläufer. 2 vols. Tübingen, Germany: Wasmuth.
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The author provides an exhaustive illustrated catalogue with commentary on Macedonian chamber tombs. Though primarily interested in the architecture, he also covers paintings as part of the structures. An enormously useful study for understanding chamber tomb paintings in their environment.
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Miller, Stella G. 2014. Hellenistic painting in the eastern Mediterranean, mid-fourth to mid-first century B.C. In The Cambridge history of painting in the classical world. Edited by Jerome J. Pollitt, 170–237. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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Overview that includes major Macedonian paintings arranged by subject matter in the context of Hellenistic painting throughout the eastern Mediterranean. Skepticism is expressed regarding the scholarly practice of painterly attributions.
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Palagia, Olga. 2014. The frescoes from the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor in Boscoreale as reflections of Macedonian funerary paintings of the early Hellenistic period. Paper presented at an international conference held 25–27 September 2008 in Brussels and Leuven, Belgium. In The age of the successors and the creation of the Hellenistic kingdoms (323–276 B.C.). Edited by Hans Hauben and Alexander Meeus, 207–231. Studia Hellenistica 53. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters.
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The author argues that Macedonian tomb paintings were copied on the spot by craftsmen and later installed on the walls at Boscoreale, a theory poorly supported by archaeological evidence (also see the annotation for Palagia 2014 cited under Boscoreale: The Villa of P. Fannius Synistor).
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Salzmann, Dieter. 1982. Untersuchungen zu den antiken Kieselmosaiken von den Anfängen bis zum Beginn der Tesseratechnik. Archäologische Forschungen 10. Berlin: Gebrüder Mann.
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The author discusses pebble mosaics in the Greek world, with important discussion of the Macedonian pictorial mosaics. A basic starting point.
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Sismanides, Konstantinos. 1997. Κλίνες και κλινοειδείς κατασκευές των μακεδονικών τάφων. Δημοσιεύματα του Αρχαιολογικού Δελτίου 58. Athens, Greece: Ekdose tou Tameiou Archaiologikon Poron kai Apallotrioseon.
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Important study, in Greek with brief summaries in English and German, of Macedonian klinai, some of which are painted, accompanied by an indispensable catalogue with contexts. Apart from the fully documented painted klinai from Cassandrea/Potidaea, however, there are disappointingly few illustrations of the rest of the corpus.
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Color and Technical Aspects

Among scholarly studies devoted to color and pigment analysis, Macedonia plays a major role. Brecoulaki 2006 is a scientifically based study of Macedonian monuments, and Kakoulli 2009 provides an excellent introduction to scientific analysis of Hellenistic paintings in general. Perdikatsis, et al. 2002 discusses pigments and techniques employed specifically on the Vergina stelae. In addition, a few final publications of individual tombs include scientific information.

Brecoulaki, Hariclia. 2006. La peinture funéraire de Macédoine: Emplois et fonctions de la couleur IVe–IIe s. av. J.-C. 2 vols. and CD-ROM. Meletemata 48. Athens, Greece: National Hellenic Research Foundation.
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Fundamental work on color and pigments in Macedonia (Vol. 1, pp. 395–462).
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Kakoulli, Ioanna. 2009. Greek painting techniques and materials from the fourth to the first century BC. London: Archetype.
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Excellent introduction to scientific analysis of Hellenistic painting, complete with tables and photomicrographs throughout the text, and ending with a group of appendixes.
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Perdikatsis, Vassilis, Ioannis Maniatis, and Chrysoula Saatsoglou-Paliadeli. 2002. Characterisation of the pigments and the painting technique used on the Vergina stelae. In Color in ancient Greece: The role of color in ancient Greek art and architecture (700–31 B.C.); Proceedings of the conference held in Thessaloniki, 12–16 April 2000. Edited by Michael A. Tiverios and Despina S. Tsiafakis, 245–257. Thessaloniki, Greece: Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki Press.
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Convenient summary of technical aspects regarding the stelae from the “Great Tumulus.”
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Aedonochori (Ancient Tragilos), Bisaltia in Aegean Thrace

Ongoing, sporadic excavations have revealed public and private buildings as well as graves at the site. Outstanding is a painted sarcophagus known from two preliminary reports: Koukouli-Chrysanthaki 1983 and Nikolaïdou-Patera 2007.

Koukouli-Chrysanthaki, Haido. 1983. Ανασκαφικές έρευνες στην αρχαία Τράγιλο: Πρώτες γενικής αρχαιολογικές ιστορικές παρατηρήσεις. In Ancient Macedonia III: Papers read at the third international symposium held in Thessaloniki, September 21–25, 1977. Edited by Institute for Balkan Studies, 136–138. Institute for Balkan Studies 193. Thessaloniki, Greece: Institute for Balkan Studies.
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Preliminary, partially illustrated excavation report on a sarcophagus with painted inner lid, now in the Archaeological Museum of Kavalla and currently under study. Iconographically, its representation of funerary ritual is unparalleled in the Thraco-Macedonian repertoire.
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Nikolaïdou-Patera, Maria. 2007. Αρχαία Τράγιλος. In Thrace in the Graeco-Roman world: Proceedings of the 10th International Congress of Thracology, Komotini-Alexandroupolis, 18–23 October 2005. Edited by Athena Iakovidou, 436–444. Athens, Greece: National Hellenic Research Foundation, Center for Greek and Roman Antiquity.
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Illustrations of the painting in an overview of the site and its history.
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Aenea (Greek Aineia, Also Aeneia or Ainia, Modern Nea Michaniona), Chalkidiki

Aenea has revealed burial mounds covering a cluster of cist graves, of which Tomb II preserves wall paintings.

Vokotopoulou, Julia. 1990. Οι tαφικοί tύμβοι της Αίνειας. Δημοσιεύματα του Αρχαιολογικού Δελτίου 41. Athens, Greece: Ekdose tou Tameiou Archaiologikon Poron kai Apallotrioseon.
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Important, detailed publication, in Greek with English summary, of an unlooted cist grave, Aenea Tomb II, now in the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, whose interior walls vividly depict a gynecaeum. Floral decoration bears comparison to that of Macedonian mosaics as well as to Apulian vase painting. See especially pp. 22–49.
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Aghios Athanasios (Ancient Herakleia on the Axios or Possibly Chalastra), Mygdonia

The area has produced a number of graves, most importantly the “Tomb of the Symposium,” which is examined in detail in Tsimbidou-Avloniti 2005, with an important addendum in Tsimbidou-Avloniti 2011. Paspalas 2008 investigates details that reflect the Achaemenid tradition, while D’Angelo 2011 considers spatial aspects of the symposium scene. The tomb is currently not accessible.

D’Angelo, Tiziana. 2011. Un “Symposion in 4D”: Spazio e memoria nel fregio della facciata della Tomba di Agios Athanasios. In Pittura ellenistica in Italia e in Sicilia: Linguaggi e tradizioni; Atti del convegno di studi, Messina, 24–25 settembre 2009. Edited by Gioacchino Francesco La Torre and Mario Torelli, 49–62. Archaeologica 163. Rome: Giorgio Bretschneider.
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An ingenious, hypothetical multidimensional rendering of an andron (male banqueting hall), where the painted symposium might have taken place. The author speculates that the scene represents the deceased with his son at a symbolic funerary feast that honors the transition of generations.
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Paspalas, Stavros A. 2008. The Achaemenid lion-griffin on a Macedonian tomb painting and on a Sicyonian mosaic. In Ancient Greece and ancient Iran: Cross-cultural encounters; 1st international conference, Athens, 11–13 November 2006. Edited by Seyed Mohammad Reza Darbandi and Antigoni Zournatzi, 301–325. Athens, Greece: National Hellenic Research Center.
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The author investigates possible transmission and adaptation of Achaemenid motifs to Greece via Macedonian channels.
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Tsimbidou-Avloniti, Maria. 2005. Μακεδονικοί τάφοι στον Φοίνικα και στον Άγιο Αθανάσιο Θεσσαλονίκης. Δημοσιεύματα του Αρχαιολογικού Δελτίου 91. Athens, Greece: Ekdose tou Tameiou Archaiologikon Poron kai Apallotrioseon.
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Excellent publication, in Greek with English and Italian summaries, of the tomb and its paintings in context, with wide-ranging discussion. Important for study of symposiastic culture and military history as well as artistic currents. See especially pp, 86–184.
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Tsimbidou-Avloniti, Maria. 2011. Άγιος Αθανάσιος, μακεδονικός τάφος ΙΙΙ: Ο οπλισμός του ευγενούς νεκρού. In Νάματα. Edited by Semele Piniatoglou and Theodosia Stephanidou-Tiveriou, 351–363. Festschrift for Demetrios Pandermalis. Thessaloniki, Greece: Univ. Studio Press.
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Publication of the conserved arms and armor from the tomb, which, it is argued, establishes the deceased in the painted symposium frieze as a hetairos of the Royal Cavalry.
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Amphipolis, Aegean Thrace

Excavations over many years at Amphipolis have yielded many Macedonian tombs and cist graves, of which only a few preserve paintings. Outstanding, though poorly preserved, are a pair of painted klinai discussed in Brecoulaki 2006. Malama 2007, on the other hand, is a preliminary report on a very well-preserved painted cist grave, while Greek Ministry of Culture 2014 provides electronic illustration of painted remains and a pictorial floor mosaic from a Macedonian tomb discovered in 2014 at the mound of Kasta, Amphipolis.

Brecoulaki, Hariclia. 2006. Tombe Macédonienne 1: Les klines peintes. In La peinture funéraire de Macédoine: Emplois et fonctions de la couleur IVe–IIe s. av. J.-C. 2 vols. and CD-ROM. By Hariclia Brecoulaki, 373–377. Meletemata 48. Athens, Greece: National Hellenic Research Foundation.
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The author discusses the Dionysiac iconography as well as technical details of the pair of klinai now displayed in the Archaeological Museum of Kavala.
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Greek Ministry of Culture. 2014. Amphipolis architrave photos released. Protothema News, 3 December.
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Preliminary electronic dissemination of paintings in an enormous, multiphase Macedonian tomb at Kasta/Amphipolis. The paintings promise with full study to add significantly to our understanding of eschatological beliefs as well as to the history of wall painting. The floor mosaic bears great similarity to the painting in Tomb I, the “Tomb of Persephone,” at Vergina (see also Andronikos 1994, cited under the “Great Tumulus,” Tombs I–III, and Painted Grave Stelae).
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Malama, Penelope. 2007. Le décor pictural des tombes récemment mises au jour à Amphipolis. Paper presented at a conference held 10 and 27 March 2004 at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. In Peinture et couleur dans le monde antique. Edited by Sophie Descamps-Lequime, 108–119. Paris: Musée du Louvre.
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Preliminary publication of a cist grave whose paintings feature rare images of females along with numerous items from a gynecaeum.
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Cassandrea (Greek Kassandreia, Earlier Potidaia), Chalcidice

Sismanides 1997 looks at an outstanding pair of funerary klinai from a Macedonian tomb; the author’s study of the genre expands to encompass specimens throughout Macedonia.

Sismanides, Konstantinos. 1997. Κλίνες και κλινοειδείς κατασκευές των μακεδονικών τάφων. Δημοσιεύματα του Αρχαιολογικού Δελτίου 58. Athens, Greece: Ekdose tou Tameiou Archaiologikon Poron kai Apallotrioseon.
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Remarkably well-preserved pair of painted klinai, now in the Archaeological Museum at Thessaloniki. This is an indispensable study, in Greek with English and German summaries, for the history and iconography of klinai and for eschatological beliefs.
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Dion, Pieria

Dion, Macedonia’s premier sanctuary, has so far yielded only a single painted tomb in its extended necropolis, a Macedonian tomb examined in Soteriades 1932. Boardman 1970 discusses the wall painting, while Pandermalis 2000 provides good illustration of the reconstructed painted kline. The tomb is not currently accessible.

Boardman, John. 1970. Travelling rugs. Antiquity 44.174: 143–144.
DOI: 10.1017/S0003598X00104727Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Brief, illustrated discussion of the wall painting of Achaemenid-style lions, with comparison to a figured woven shabrak (saddle blanket) from Pazyryk in the Altai Mountains of Siberia.
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Pandermalis, Dimitrios. 2000. Discovering Dion. Athens, Greece: Adam Editions.
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Brief, illustrated description of the tomb and its furnishings, with the now-reconstructed kline in situ (pp. 265–268).
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Soteriades, Georgios. 1932. Ανασκαφαί εν Δίω: Ο καμαρωτός τάφος. Επιστημονική επετηρίς της φιλοσοφικής σχολής του Αριστοτελείου Πανεπιστημίου Θεσσαλονίκης 2:5–19.
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Summary publication of the tomb with its fragmentary wall painting and painted kline. The paintings are important on historical grounds and for illustrating transmission of motifs.
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Lefkadia/Kopanos/Chariessa (Ancient Mieza), Bottiaea (Roman Imathia)

A cluster of modern communities that likely occupy the site of ancient Mieza has yielded a substantial group of painted tombs. Kinch 1920 reports on the first to be discovered, the “Kinch Tomb.” The “Tomb of the Judgment” is published in exemplary fashion in Petsas 1966, with further insights provided in Bruno 1981. Miller 1993 studies the Tomb of Lyson and Kallikles in detail, to which should be appended Sekunda 2013. Finally, Rhomiopoulou and Schmidt-Dounas 2010 provides a solid discussion of the “Tomb of the Palmettes” and much more.

Bruno, Vincent J. 1981. The painted metopes at Lefkadia and the problem of color in Doric sculptured metopes. American Journal of Archaeology 85.1: 3–11.
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The author proposes that the metopes of the “Tomb of the Judgment” are intended to simulate sculpted reliefs like those of the Parthenon. Suggestions are made as to the physical means of transmission.
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Kinch, Karl Frederik. 1920. Le tombeau de Niausta: Tombeau macédonien. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskabs Skrifter, Historisk og Filosofisk Afdeling, 7th ser. 4.3: 283–288.
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Initial report on discovery of the so-called Kinch Tomb, with its important drawing of a painting on the interior rear wall (plate II). The remarkable hybrid costume of the Greek cavalryman, often commented on, relies on this illustration. The painting disappeared long ago.
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Miller, Stella G. 1993. The Tomb of Lyson and Kallikles. Mainz, Germany: Philipp von Zabern.
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Detailed study of the tomb of two named military figures in the context of regional architecture and funerary customs. Important for military history, painting styles, and Macedonian prosopography. The question of whether the interior decor is directly linked to Roman Second Style painting is left open-ended. The tomb is now replicated at ground level above the actual tomb.
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Petsas, Photios M. 1966. Ο τάφος των Λευκαδίων. Library of the Archaeological Society at Athens 57. Athens, Greece: Archaeological Society at Athens.
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Landmark publication of the “Tomb of the Judgment,” also known as the “Great Tomb.” Its complex iconography involves a series of painted cycles, most importantly the megalographic (large-scale) sequence of Underworld judgment. The author discusses the tomb as a whole, emphasizing its significance in terms of eschatological beliefs grounded in philosophical texts. The tomb, heavily restored in the early 21st century, is accessible under a modern shelter.
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Rhomiopoulou, Katerina, and Barbara Schmidt-Dounas. 2010. Das Palmettengrab in Lefkadia. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Athenische Abteilung 21. Mainz, Germany: Philipp von Zabern.
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Important publication of the “Tomb of the Palmettes,” packed with information and copious observations on burial customs together with historical and art-historical treatises. Included are updated lists of Macedonian tombs as well as scientific analysis of paintings (by Hariklia Brecoulaki, pp. 102–118). The tomb is accessible under a modern shelter.
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Sekunda, Nicholas V. 2013. The Tomb of Lyson and Kallikles. In The Antigonid army. By Nicholas V. Sekunda, 9–20. Akinthina 8. Gdansk, Poland: Foundation for the Development of Gdansk Univ.
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Thorough discussion of the painted military gear in the Tomb of Lyson and Kallikles, with the suggestion that the named brothers died in the Battle of Sellasia in 222 BCE.
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Pella, Bottiaea (Roman Imathia)

The capital of Macedonia from late classical times has yielded many burials, but few tombs with paintings. Most important among the painted tombs is a remarkable cist grave described in Lilimbaki-Akamati 2007. Pella’s famous pictorial mosaics, on the other hand, have much to add. Fundamental are the publication on the mosaics in context (Makaronas and Giouri 1989) and the comprehensive study of pebble mosaics in general (Salzmann 1982). A close relationship between mosaics and wall paintings is discussed in Salzmann 1982 and Guimier-Sorbets 1993.

Guimier-Sorbets, Anne-Marie. 1993. Mosaic. In Macedonia: From Philip II to the Roman conquest. Edited by Miltiades B. Hatzopoulos, 117–136. Translated by David Hardy. Athens, Greece: Ekdotike Athenon.
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Illustrated overview of Macedonian pebble mosaics, primarily at Pella. The author touches on iconography, possible attributions, compositions, and (importantly) techniques. The oft-repeated attribution of the Abduction of Helen at Pella to the painter Zeuxis is noted, as is the possible connection between the Lion Hunt Mosaic at Pella and the frieze of Tomb II at Vergina. Some of the mosaics are in situ; others are in the Archaeological Museum of Pella.
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Lilimbaki-Akamati, Maria. 2007. Πέλλης. Vol. 1, Κιβωτιόσχημος τάφος με ζωγραφική διακόσμηση από την Πέλλα. Thessaloniki, Greece: Ministry of Culture.
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Beautifully illustrated publication, in Greek with extended English summary, of the “Scholar’s Tomb,” a cist grave with painted cycle of figures reminiscent of philosophical types. Of particular interest to those with interests in Macedonia’s intellectual history as well as in questions of burial ritual. Included is an important section on painting analysis (by Nicholaos Minos, Ioannis Maniatis, Hara Sakellari, and Despoina Kavousanaki, pp. 134–175). The tomb is currently not accessible.
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Makaronas, Haralambos, and Eugenia Giouri. 1989. Οι οικίες αρπαγής της Ελένης και Διονύσου της Πέλλας. Library of the Archaeological Society at Athens 109. Athens, Greece: Archaeological Society at Athens.
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Thorough study of the most-famous mosaics from Pella in the context of excavation of their respective houses.
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Salzmann, Dieter. 1982. Untersuchungen zu den antiken Kieselmosaiken von den Anfängen bis zum Beginn der Tesseratechnik. Archäologische Forschungen 10. Berlin: Gebrüder Mann.
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Discussion of the Pella mosaics and their significance (pp. 28–29, 104–108). An excellent starting point.
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Phoinikas, Mygdonia

Rescue excavations have led to discovery of a variety of burials, including an important painted Macedonian tomb described in full in Tsimbidou-Avloniti 2005.

Tsimbidou-Avloniti, Maria. 2005. Μακεδονικοί τάφοι στον Φοίνικα και στον Άγιο Αθανάσιο Θεσσαλονίκης. Δημοσιεύματα του Αρχαιολογικού Δελτίου 91. Athens, Greece: Ekdose tou Tameiou Archaiologikon Poron kai Apallotrioseon.
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Detailed publication, in Greek with English and Italian summaries, of a painted pedimental composition and metopes (pp. 19–84). Important in study of eschatological beliefs. The tomb, protected by a shelter, is currently accessible with permission.
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Vergina (Ancient Aigai or Aegae), Bottiaea (Roman Imathia)

At Macedonia’s original capital and royal burial grounds, a group of painted chamber tombs, two of them found intact, have become the centerpiece for study of painting in the Hellenistic world. They have also captured the attention of scholars in many disciplines even as they bask in the glare of extraordinary publicity fueled by controversial issues of identity and interpretation. General introductions to the tombs can be found in Andronikos 1984, Andronikos 1993, and Drougou and Saatsoglou-Paliadeli 2006. In these entries, painted material is divided into two groupings: tombs and stelae found in the “Great Tumulus” (now also known as “Tomb Cluster Alpha” or the “Cluster of Philip II”) and tombs from other cemeteries of the city, one in what is now labeled “Tomb Cluster Beta” (or, alternatively, the “Queen’s Cluster”) and another in the “Bella Tumulus” (see Tombs outside the “Great Tumulus”).

Andronikos, Manolis. 1984. Vergina: The royal tombs and the ancient city. Translated by Louise Turner. Athens, Greece: Ekdotike Athenon.
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An attractive, well-illustrated introduction to the site, with its tombs and other monuments, translated in the same year from the Greek (Βεργίνα: Οι βασιλικοί τάφοι και οι άλλες αρχαιότητες). Highly recommended as a starting point, though important issues argued here remain unresolved to this day.
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Andronikos, Manolis. 1993. The tombs at Vergina. In Macedonia: From Philip II to the Roman conquest. Edited by Miltiades B. Hatzopoulos, 154–177. Translated by David Hardy. Athens, Greece: Ekdotike Athenon.
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A brief, handsomely illustrated, but very general discussion of most of the painted tombs, translated from the French (La Macédoine: De Philippe II à la conquête romaine). Important is inclusion of the more recently discovered so-called Tomb of Eurydice in what is now called “Tomb Cluster Beta” (also known as the “Queen’s Cluster,” pp. 154–161).
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Drougou, Stella, and Chrysoula Saatsoglou-Paliadeli. 2006. Vergina: The land and its history. Edited by Anna Oikonomidi-Tsangogiorga. Translated by Geoffrey Cox. Athens, Greece: Ephesus.
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A fine volume in coffee-table format, with stunning illustrations and appropriate commentary on the tombs and the site.
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The “Great Tumulus,” Tombs I–III, and Painted Grave Stelae

Tombs I–III, ultimately covered by the “Great Tumulus,” are now also known as “Tomb Cluster Alpha” or the “Cluster of Philip II.” Note that the much-discussed identities of the deceased remain controversial. Andronikos 1994 studies the paintings of the looted cist Tomb I, dubbed the “Tomb of Persephone,” while Cohen 2010 addresses theoretical issues that may have informed that cycle. The frieze of the intact Macedonian Tomb II, the so-called Tomb of Philip, is examined in Saatsoglou-Paliadeli 2004, with further interpretations offered in Hatzopoulos 1994, Franks 2012, and Ignatiadou and Seiradakis 2009. The antechamber frieze of the intact Macedonian Tomb III, the so-called Prince’s Tomb, is discussed in Tancke 1990. Finally, Saatsoglou-Paliadeli 1984 studies the painted grave stelae from the fill of the “Great Tumulus.” Andronikos 1984 and Andronikos 1993 [both cited under Vergina (Ancient Aigai or Aegae), Bottiaea (Roman Imathia)] offer readily accessible illustrations with commentary. A selection of this material, together with funeral assemblages, is exhibited in the tumulus museum, built to suggest the appearance from the outside of the “Great Tumulus.”

Andronikos, Manolis. 1994. Vergina II: The “Tomb of Persephone.” Translated by Alexandra Doumas. Library of the Archaeological Society at Athens 142. Athens, Greece: Archaeological Society at Athens.
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The publication, translated from Greek (Βεργίνα 2: Ο τάφος της “Περσεφόνης”), is primarily devoted to the paintings of the Persephone cycle from the cist tomb, Tomb I. Handsome illustrations and line drawings of the extensive incised preliminary drawings are of critical importance. The author concludes that the painting is an original work of the painter Nikomachos. The tomb is currently not accessible to visitors, though enlarged prints of the painting cycle are exhibited on the museum walls.
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Cohen, Ada. 2010. Art in the era of Alexander the Great: Paradigms of manhood and their cultural traditions. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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The author takes concepts of war, hunt, and rape as defining masculine activity of the period. Thus, the abduction painting of Tomb I looms large in a wide-ranging chapter titled “Abduction and Femininity” (pp. 187–236), while the hunt painting of Tomb II is a prime focus in the succeeding chapter on “Hunt and Masculinity” (pp. 237–297). Much can be learned from this highly theoretical approach.
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Franks, Hallie M. 2012. Hunters, heroes, kings: The frieze of Tomb II at Vergina. Ancient Art and Architecture in Context 3. Princeton, NJ: American School of Classical Studies at Athens.
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The author, sidestepping questions of chronology and identity, examines royal imagery seen through the lens of the hunt frieze of Tomb II. With its handsome illustrations and broadly based discussions in the English language, this book may serve as a useful point of entry to certain complexities of the subject.
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Hatzopoulos, Miltiades B. 1994. Cultes et rites de passage en Macédoine. Meletemata 19. Athens, Greece: National Research Center.
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The author interprets the frieze of Tomb II (pp. 87–111) in terms of a rite de passage focused on the ritualized boar hunt, whose positive outcome determined elevation to manhood.
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Ignatiadou, Despina, and Ioannis H. Seiradakis. 2009. Ηλιακό παρατηρητήριο στην τοιχογραφία του κυνηγιού στη Βεργίνα. Το αρχαιολογικό έργο στη Μακεδονία και στη Θράκη: 20 Χρόνια 2009:95–104.
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The authors, an archaeologist and an astronomer, respectively, hypothesize rather daringly that the frieze painting of Tomb II shows a megalithic solar observatory and probably also a sanctuary in a landscape of ancient Thrace near Seuthopolis, an area of Philip’s Scythian campaign.
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Saatsoglou-Paliadeli, Chrysoula. 1984. Τα επιτάφια μνημεία απο τη Μεγάλη Τούμβα της Βεργίνας. Thessaloniki, Greece: Aristotle Univ.
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Fundamental, detailed publication of the painted (and sculpted) grave stelae and other markers from the “Great Tumulus,” with restorations where needed. A selection of them are on view in the modern tumulus museum (see also Perdikatsis, et al. 2002, cited under Hellenistic Painting and Pictorial Mosaics in Macedonia: Color and Technical Aspects).
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Saatsoglou-Paliadeli, Chrysoula. 2004. Βεργίνα: Ο τάφος του Φιλίππου; Η τοιχογραφία με το κυνήγι. Library of the Archaeological Society at Athens 231. Athens, Greece: Archaeological Society at Athens.
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Thorough publication of the frieze of Tomb II, with emphasis on iconography and an important discussion on technique. Attributing the frieze to Aristeides the Younger, son of Nikomachos, the author addresses the controversy about identifying the deceased as Philip II, as here, or as Philip III Arrhidaeus, as advocated by others. An indispensable resource. The tomb facade is currently visible at a distance from inside the tumulus museum.
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Tancke, Karin. 1990. Wagenrennen: Ein Friesthema der aristokratischen Repräsentationskunst spätklassisch-frühhellenistischer Zeit. Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 105:95–127.
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Study of the aesthetic tradition informing the chariot race frieze in the antechamber of Tomb III. Important is the observation of common inspiration across media. The frieze is not currently on view.
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Tombs outside the “Great Tumulus”

Two painted specimens stand out among the numerous tombs scattered across several burial grounds. Andronikos 1993 gives first views of the painted throne in the “Tomb of Eurydice,” in what has been more recently dubbed “Tomb Cluster Beta” or, alternatively, the “Queen’s Cluster,” and Kottaridi 2007 discusses its iconography. Andronikos 1984 offers preliminary discussion of the frieze of the “Tomb of the Warrior” in the “Bella Tumulus.” Neither tomb is currently accessible.

Andronikos, Manolis. 1984. The monumental Macedonian tombs. In Vergina: The royal tombs and the ancient city. By Manolis Andronikos, 31–37. Translated by Louise Turner. Athens, Greece: Ekdotike Athenon.
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Illustrated preliminary report of the significant, if enigmatic, scene involving a warrior on the facade of the “Tomb of the Warrior” in the “Bella Tumulus” (pp. 35–37).
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Andronikos, Manolis. 1993. The tombs at Vergina: The Tomb of Eurydice. In Macedonia: From Philip II to the Roman conquest. Edited by Miltiades B. Hatzopoulos, 154–161. Translated by David Hardy. Athens, Greece: Ekdotike Athenon.
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Preliminary illustrated report of a tomb in what is now called “Tomb Cluster Beta” or the “Queens’ Cluster,” currently considered the earliest of all Macedonian tombs and associated by the excavators with Queen Eurydice, mother of Philip II. The painted backrest of the throne inside bears an arresting scene in a framed pinax-like composition.
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Kottaridi, Angeliki. 2007. L’épiphanie des dieux des Enfers dans la nécropole royale d’Aigai. Paper presented at a conference held 10 and 27 March 2004 at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. In Peinture et couleur dans le monde antique. Edited by Sophie Descamps-Lequime, 26–45. Paris: Musée du Louvre.
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Extended discussion of the otherworldly scenes on the throne in the tomb of “Queen Eurydice” and on the walls in the “Tomb of Persephone” (or Tomb I in the “Great Tumulus”).
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Hellenistic Painting in Bulgarian Thrace

Paintings in Thracian chamber tombs add substantially to the painterly corpus of the Hellenistic era. Archibald 1998 is the fundamental resource on the history and material culture of the rich Odrysian Kingdom, to which most painted tombs, situated in the “Valley of the Roses” (also known as the “Valley of the Kings”), belong. The lone Getic tomb at Sveshtari was created under Odrysian influence. Valeva 2015 gives an excellent overview of Thracian tomb paintings throughout Bulgaria, while Fol and Fol 2005 offers a general introduction to Thracian culture, including major painted tombs accompanied by an array of colored illustrations. Note that many preliminary reports are in Bulgarian.

Archibald, Zofia H. 1998. The Odrysian Kingdom of Thrace: Orpheus unmasked. Oxford Monographs on Classical Archaeology. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
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An indispensable, balanced resource that provides a historical and archaeological overview of Thracian culture in the Odrysian realm, with accompanying illustrations, maps, and charts. In the author’s brief overviews of painting cycles, interpretations are notably restrained.
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Fol, Alexander, and Valeria Fol. 2005. The Thracians. Translated by Nedjalka Čakalova. Sofia, Bulgaria: Tangra TanNakRa All Bulgarian Foundation.
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A well-illustrated, semipopular publication in Bulgarian and English. Regarding painted cycles, the authors offer interpretations in line with traditional Bulgarian/Thracian ideology.
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Valeva, Julia. 2015. The decoration of Thracian chamber tombs. In A companion to ancient Thrace. Edited by Julia Valeva, Emil Nankov, and Denver Graninger, 180–196. Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World. Malden, MA, and Chichester, UK: Wiley Blackwell.
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A full and up-to-date discussion of Thracian painting, with extensive bibliography. Highly recommended as an excellent introduction.
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Alexandrovo (Also Aleksandrovo) near Haskovo

An important tholos tomb with several painted cycles is partially reported on in Kitov 2005, and Kitanov 2014 offers a welcome report on preliminary drawings in the tomb. Final publication is awaited. In the meantime, a full-scale replica of the tomb with its paintings can be found in the nearby Museum Center “Thracian Art of Eastern Rhodopes.”

Kitanov, Kitan. 2014. Le dessin préparatoire et les corrections apportées à la peinture du tombeau Thrace près d’Alexandrovo. In Antike Malerei zwischen Lokalstil und Zeitstil: Akten des XI. internationalen Kolloquiums der AIPMA (Association Internationale de la Peinture Ancienne), 13.–17. September 2010 in Ephesos. Vol. 1. Edited by Norbert Zimmermann, 675–678. Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften: Philosophisch-Historische Klasse 468. Vienna: Verlag de Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften.
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Significant observations on preparatory drawings at Alexandrovo on the basis of advanced analytical technology.
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Kitov, Georgi. 2005. Aleksandrovskata grobnitsa. Varna, Bulgaria: Slavena.
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In Bulgarian; translates as “Tomb at Alexandrovo.” Well-illustrated, preliminary report on the tomb and its several sets of paintings. Especially useful for its accessibility online.
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Kazanlak (Also Kazanluk)

Two publications translated into German from Bulgarian, Vassiliev 1959 and Zhivkova 1973, discuss a well-known brick-built, beehive-vaulted chamber tomb together with its paintings. The central banquet scene is much discussed among scholars as either a literal or metaphorical event, while the dromos paintings are also open to interpretation. Borchhardt 2002 treats the latter as historical paintings. A full-scale reproduction adjacent to the tomb, complete with copies of the paintings, is open to the public.

Borchhardt, Jürgen. 2002. Narrative Ereignis- und Historienbilder im mediterranen Raum von der Archaik bis in den Hellenismus. In Krieg und Sieg: Narrative Wanddarstellungen von Altägypten bis ins Mittelalter; Internationales Kolloquium, 29.–30. Juli 1997 im Schloss Haindorf, Langenlois. Edited by Manfred Bietak and Mario Schwarz, 81–136. Denkschriften der Gesamtakademie 24. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
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The author sees the dromos friezes (p. 124) as grounded in reality and showing some battle of around 314 BCE involving Thracians versus causia-wearing Macedonians. He wisely rejects the identification of Seuthes III that is sometimes advocated.
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Vassiliev, Assen. 1959. Das antike Grabmal bei Kasanlak. Translated by Michail Matliev. Sofia, Bulgaria: Bulgarski Hudoshnik.
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The author interprets the primary scene as a conjugal farewell for a warrior whose lifetime activities are illustrated in the dromos. Greek influences against a Thracian background are recognized. Important for its illustrations.
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Zhivkova, Liudmila. 1973. Das Grabmal von Kazanlak. Translated by Willi Brückner. Recklinghausen, Germany: Aurel Bongers.
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Updated discussion of the tomb. The dromos frieze is seen as a real combat though without discernible historical reference. Author’s name is alternatively spelled Ljudmila Shivkova.
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Maglizh (Also Maglij, Magliš, Maglisch, or Muglish)

Paintings are partially preserved from the multiphase, brick-built, corbel-roofed tomb at Maglizh. The tomb is examined in Getov 1988, with an overview of the paintings offered in Valeva 1998.

Getov, Lyudmil. 1988. Măgližkata grobnica. Pametnici na Kulturata. Sofia, Bulgaria: Balgarski Xudoznik.
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Translates as “The tomb of Maglisch.” Description of the tomb, in Bulgarian with German summary, with its fragmentary paintings, now in the Museum of History “Iskra” at Kazanlak. Interesting for ancient repainting of the tomb, in which Panathenaic amphorae replaced a military frieze.
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Valeva, Julia. 1998. Le tombeau de Maglij. In Au royaume des ombres: La peinture funéraire antique; IVe siècle avant J.-C.–IVe siècle après J.-C. Edited by Nicole Blanc, 32–36. Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux.
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Brief, accessible overview of the tomb’s wall paintings.
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Ostrusha/Shipka

Painted coffers in an otherwise unpublished multichambered burial monument, sometimes referred to as a “sarcophagus tomb,” are published in Valeva 2005.

Valeva, Julia. 2005. The painted coffers of the Ostrusha tomb. Sofia, Bulgaria: Bulgarski Houdozhnik.
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A well-illustrated and thoroughly researched monograph on the Ostrusha coffers in an unusual, funeral-cult complex. Focus is on iconography of figures in the poorly preserved coffers. The prosopa (heads), interpreted as divinities, find analogies through much of the eastern Mediterranean.
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Sveshtari, Ginina Mogila (Ancient Helis?), Northeastern Bulgaria

The sole painted tomb known (to date) in the region is well studied in Fol, et al. 1986.

Fol, Alexander, Maria Chichikova, Totyo Ivanov, and Teofil Teofilov. 1986. The Thracian tomb near the village of Sveshtari. Edited by Lily Netsova. Translated by Nedyalka Chakalova. Sofia, Bulgaria: Svyat.
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Detailed, well-illustrated publication, translated from Bulgarian, of an important barrel-vaulted tomb with unfinished painting that has yielded important information on painterly techniques. The central scene is interpreted as the deceased on horseback, crowned by a goddess.
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Hellenistic Painting in the Northern Pontic Region

Trofimova 2007 provides an outstanding overview of history and culture on the north coast of the Black Sea, where mixed populations of local tribes and colonial Greeks coexisted in a number of local kingdoms. Scholars wrestle with issues framed in terms of acculturation, Hellenization, “barbarization,” and hybrid colonialism. Preserved paintings include a couple of wall and ceiling paintings, painted sarcophagi, painted fabric, and painted glass medallions deriving primarily from chamber tombs under kurgans (burial tumuli), but with one exceptional fresco from a shrine at Nymphaion (see Gagen 2001, cited under the Bosporan Kingdom).

Trofimova, Anna A., ed. 2007. Greeks on the Black Sea: Ancient art from the Hermitage. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum.
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Excellent introduction (with superb photographs) to history and culture along the northern Black Sea littoral, with cogent essays by respected Russian scholars. Since much scholarship of the area is in Russian, not readily accessible to all, this is an invaluable tool in English for Western scholars and students alike.
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The Bosporan Kingdom

The few known paintings include examples of great importance. Gagen 2001 gives a progress report on restoring a unique encaustic painting from Nymphaion. Remains of two wooden sarcophagi from the Kul’-Oba Kurgan are of particular significance: one painted (Vaulina and Wasowicz 1974), the other inlaid with painted ivory (Lapatin 2001). Schwarzmaier 1996 discusses the prosopo (head) in Tomb II in the Great Bliznitsa Kurgan. Gerziger 1975 offers an illustrated commentary on a painted burial cloth from a kurgan in the Seven Brothers’ cluster, and Kunina 2001 examines an intriguing group of painted glass “medallions” from tombs at Pantikapaion.

Gagen, L. P. 2001. Restoration of a third-century B.C. fresco from Nymphaeum. In Northern Pontic antiquities in the State Hermitage Museum. Edited by John Boardman, Sergei L. Solovyov, and Gocha R. Tsetskhladze, 239–248. Colloquia Pontica 7. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
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Uniquely significant frescoes (polychrome encaustic over sgraffiti) from a shrine at Nymphaeum (Greek Nymphaion) that are still under restoration. They are important technically as rare encaustic paintings, important aesthetically for the apparent wealth of vignettes and graffiti throughout the room, and important historically through a possible connection with Egypt.
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Gerziger, Dora. 1975. Ein Decke aus dem sechsten Grab der “Sieben Brüder.” Translated by J. Aphonkin. Antike Kunst 18.2: 51–55.
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Woolen “story cloth” from Grave 6 of the Seven Brothers’ Kurgan (also Sem’Bratiev or Semibratniye), with resist-painted bands featuring mythological and quasi-historical figures, labeled in Greek. Relationships with paintings and mosaics are apparent.
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Kunina, Nina Z. 2001. Decorated glass medallions from the necropolis of Panticapaeum. In Northern Pontic antiquities in the State Hermitage Museum. Edited by John Boardman, Sergei L. Solovyov, and Gocha R. Tsetskhladze, 199–203. Colloquia Pontica 7. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
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Full discussion of “medallions” of clear-greenish glass having line drawings in black over a light ground from Panticapaeum (Greek Pantikapaion), now in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. Their function, whether as furniture decoration or personal ornament, remains uncertain.
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Lapatin, Kenneth D. S. 2001. Chryselephantine statuary in the ancient Mediterranean world. Oxford Monographs on Classical Archaeology. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
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Comments (p. 18) on the technique of ivory veneers bearing finely incised and painted figures from the Kul’-Oba Kurgan, now in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. The author speculates on possible Attic craftsmanship.
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Schwarzmaier, Agnès. 1996. Die Gräber in der grossen Blisniza und ihre Datierung. Jahrbuch des Deutschen archäologischen Instituts 111:105–137.
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The author discusses the disintegrated ceiling painting of a prosopo (a head of Demeter?) from the robbed-out Tomb II of the Great Bliznitsa (also Blisniza or Bliznitsy) Kurgan, as well as its chronology. The painting is now known only from early artistic renderings.
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Vaulina, Maria, and Aleksandra Wasowicz. 1974. Bois grecs et romains de l’Ermitage. Translated by Maria Drojecka. Warsaw, Poland: Académie Polonaise des Sciences.
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Fundamental study of wooden sarcophagi from the Black Sea area; includes a detailed study (pp. 47–51) of remains from an important painted exemplar from Kul’-Oba, now in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg.
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Marievka (Also Mar’evka), Zaporozhiye (Also Zaporozhie) Region, Kurgan 9, North Pontic Steppe, Crimea

Fialko 2010 discusses a painted sarcophagus with partial reconstruction from a looted steppe Scythian burial along the Dnieper (Borysthenes) River. Bunyatyan and Fialko 2011 studies the burial as a whole, contextualizing the sarcophagus.

Bunyatyan, Ekaterina P., and Elena F. Fialko. 2011. A Scythian burial-mound with a sarcophagus bearing painted decoration. Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia 17.2: 225–254.
DOI: 10.1163/157005711X595130Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Publication of excavation results at Kurgan 9, with surviving artifacts including the fragmentary wooden sarcophagus.
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Fialko, Elena. 2010. Wooden sarcophagus with polychrome paintings from Scythian barrow. In The Thracians and their neighbours in Antiquity. Edited by Ionel Cândea, 215–226. Festschrift for Valeriu Sîrbu. Brăila, Romania: Istros.
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Discussion of the three-tiered polychrome painting from the sarcophagus lid, with observations on comparable Amazonomachies. The author dubs its artist the “Bosporus Master,” a craftsman evidently familiar with Greek work.
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Tauric Chersonesos, Crimea

Posamentir, et al. 2011 examines the singular painted remains from Chersonesos, whose multicultural population is represented by a number of painted stelae together with fragments of painted naiskoi and klinai.

Posamentir, Richard, Paula Perlman, and John Twilley. 2011. The polychrome grave stelai from the early Hellenistic necropolis. Edited by Joseph Coleman Carter. Chersonesan Studies 1. Austin: Univ. of Texas Press.
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Distinctive iconography among painted grave stelae reflecting the mixed Hellenic and native cultures is generally reduced to symbolic level, yet purely Greek style was produced as well, most notably in the capable hands of the so-called Chersonesos Master (pp. 144–145).
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Hellenistic Painting in Western Anatolia / Ionia

The few remains of Hellenistic painting in this region, amplified by mosaics, are collected in Bingöl 1997. Noteworthy is the fact that surviving material comes from the world of the living at Knidos, Pergamon, and Priene rather than from tombs.

Bingöl, Orhan. 1997. Malerei und Mosaik der Antike in der Türkei. Kulturgeschichte der Antiken Welt 67. Mainz, Germany: Philipp von Zabern.
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The only comprehensive overview of paintings and mosaics in Turkey (Anatolia), with important chapters on the Hellenistic period (pp. 68–118).
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Knidos (Also Cnidus), Caria

Fragments of an important set of figured paintings from a domestic context, the so-called Hellenistic House I, at Knidos have received preliminary publication in Bingöl 1997, after an initial introduction with context in Love 1972. Final publication is awaited.

Bingöl, Orhan. 1997. Malerei und Mosaik der Antike in der Türkei. Kulturgeschichte der Antiken Welt 67. Mainz, Germany: Philipp von Zabern.
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Paintings with preliminary reconstructions of the fragmentary remains of Hellenistic House I, now in the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology and awaiting final publication (pp. 89–96). Important for the mythological scenes.
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Love, Iris Cornelia. 1972. A preliminary report of the excavations at Knidos, 1970. American Journal of Archaeology 76.1: 65–76.
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First report and brief description of excavations of the painted Hellenistic House I.
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Pergamon, Aeolis

Preserved figured painting of pre-Roman date is scant in the powerful Attalid capital city. Kawerau and Wiegand 1930 examines the Hellenistic animal-figured band in context of Palace IV, while Schwarzer 2014 is a cogent overview of extant paintings, Hellenistic through Roman, at the site.

Kawerau, Georg, and Theodor Wiegand. 1930. Die Paläste der Hochburg. Altertümer von Pergamon 5.1. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
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Primary publication of the paintings and mosaics of the palace structures (pp. 47–50).
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Schwarzer, Holger. 2014. Antike Wandmalereien aus Pergamon. In Antike Malerei zwischen Lokalstil und Zeitstil: Akten des XI. internationalen Kolloquiums der AIPMA (Association Internationale pour la Peinture Murale Antique), 13.–17. September 2010 in Ephesos. Edited by Norbert Zimmermann, 165–176. Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften: Philosophisch-Historische Klasse 468. Vienna: Verlag de Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften.
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The author presents an excellent, compact overview of paintings, covering the poorly represented Hellenistic through the better-documented Roman phases. The Hellenistic figured frieze is placed in context of other nonfigured painted and stuccoed wall decorations.
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Priene, Ionia

The refounded 4th-century city, sometimes dubbed the Pompeii of Asia Minor for its well-preserved architectural layout, has yielded surprisingly few remains of painting. Wartke 1977 examines material uncovered long ago.

Wartke, Ralf-Bernhard. 1977. Hellenistische Stuckdekorationen aus Priene: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der hellenistischen Wanddekoration. Forschungen und Berichte 18:21–58.
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Publication of wall paintings from Priene, now in Berlin, is based on records of early excavations. Very fragmentary human figures bear witness to what was probably a common form of wall decoration.
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Hellenistic Painting in the Levant

Paintings surviving from the Levant are widely scattered and include tombs from the Hellenistic settlement at Idumaean Marisa, a fragmentary frieze from a private house at Syrian Jebel Khalid, stelae from the expansive necropolis at Sidon, and painted vignettes on the famous Alexander Sarcophagus.

Jebel Khalid on the Euphrates, Syria

The large fortified site of the Seleucid period, a one-time Macedonian military settlement, has produced various buildings bearing evidence of wall painting. Jackson 2009 explores the fragments from a particular house.

Jackson, Heather. 2009. Erotes on the Euphrates: A figured frieze in a private house at Hellenistic Jebel Khalid on the Euphrates. American Journal of Archaeology 113.2: 231–253.
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Fragments of figured wall paintings from a private house are rare testimony of the medium in this area. Sources of influence are explored.
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Marisa (Sometimes Marissa, Also Biblical Marêsha or Marêshah, Arabic Tell Sandahannah), Greek Idoumaia/Idumaea, Biblical Judaea, Israel

Marisa is known for its cavernous, multipurpose caves carved into soft bedrock. Outstanding among them are Tombs I and II, with their frescoes overpainted in the late 20th century. Jacobson 2007 expands on the original publication of a century ago, while Meyboom 2011 investigates an animal frieze in broader context.

Jacobson, David M. 2007. The Hellenistic paintings of Marisa. Edited by Stanley A. Cook. Palestine Exploration Fund Annual 7. Leeds, UK: Maney.
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An important updated study of Tombs I and II, with archival illustrations and a facsimile reprint of the original publication in 1905 by John P. Peters and Hermann Thiersch, Painted Tombs in the Necropolis of Marissa (Marêshah). Expanded discussion of iconography. The much-faded and mutilated originals were repainted in situ in 1993 on the basis of the early drawings and photographs.
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Meyboom, Paul G. P. 2011. A tour along ancient scenes with Aithiopian animals: The Marisa Frieze, the Nile Mosaic of Palestrina, the Artemidorus Papyrus and the Great Hunt Mosaic of Piazza Armerina. In Pittura ellenistica in Italia e in Sicilia: Linguaggi e tradizioni; Atti del convegno di studi, Messina, 24–25 settembre 2009. Edited by Gioacchino Francesco La Torre and Mario Torelli, 91–103. Archaeologica 163. Rome: Giorgio Bretschneider.
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The author explores the tradition of Ethiopian animals known from literary sources and visual representations throughout the Mediterranean world, including in the frieze in Marisa Tomb I. Noteworthy is the author’s inclusion of drawings in the highly controversial Artemidorus Papyrus (P. Artemid.).
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Sidon (Arabic Saïda or Sayda), Lebanon

The Hellenistic necropolis of multicultural Sidon has yielded important painted stelae in addition to the famous Alexander Sarcophagus, which bears purely painted elements in addition to its distinctive reliefs. Mendel 1912 is a catalogue of the Sidonian stelae now in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, while Bingöl 1997 and Sekunda 2001 address various aspects connected with them. Graeve 1970 studies the Alexander Sarcophagus in the same museum. Brinkmann 2008 focuses on its painted Persian Audience scene, while Piening 2010 discusses its coloring agents.

Bingöl, Orhan. 1997. Malerei und Mosaik der Antike in der Türkei. Kulturgeschichte der Antiken Welt 67. Mainz, Germany: Philipp von Zabern.
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The author discusses three of the seven Sidonian stelae, with color illustrations and useful commentary (pp. 98–99). The stelae are important both historically and art-historically.
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Brinkmann, Vinzenz. 2008. The polychromy of ancient Greek sculpture. In The color of life: Polychromy in sculpture from Antiquity to the present. Edited by Roberta Panzanelli, Eike D. Schmidt, and Kenneth Lapatin, 18–39. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum.
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Of relevance is the section “Recent Study of the Alexander Sarcophagus” within this chapter (pp. 34–36). The painted Persian Audience scene on the Alexander Sarcophagus, now in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum and generally assigned to King Abdalonymos of Sidon, is shown in photographs and reconstructions on the basis of new analysis of the pigments made in 2006.
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Graeve, Volkmar von. 1970. Der Alexandersarkophag und seine Werkstatt. Istanbuler Forschungen 28. Berlin: Gebrüder Mann.
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The sarcophagus is compared to the Alexander Mosaic from Pompeii. The author argues that the Persian Audience scene (pp. 102–109) is a direct copy of some relief known to the painter in Persepolis. A workshop in Sidon is proposed.
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Mendel, Gustave. 1912. Catalogue des sculptures grecques, romaines et byzantines. Vol. 1. Istanbul: Musée Impérial.
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Catalogue entries of the Sidonian stelae in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum(pp. 258–270), with discussion of circumstances of discovery and drawings of most.
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Piening, Heinrich. 2010. Ein farbiges Vermächtnis—die Farbmittel am “Alexandersarkophag.” In Bunte Götter: Die Farbigkeit antiker Skulptur. Edited by Vinzenz Brinkmann and Andreas Scholl, 202–205. Munich: Hirmer Verlag.
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Preliminary report on noninvasive analysis of colorants on the Alexander Sarcophagus.
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Sekunda, Nicholas. 2001. Hellenistic infantry reform in the 160’s BC. Studies on the History of Ancient and Medieval Art of Warfare 5. Łódź, Poland: Oficyna Naukowa MS.
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Study of military iconography, ethnic identity, and chronology. Painted Sidonian stelae play a significant role in the discussion (primarily pp. 68–71, 135–149).
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Hellenistic Painting in Cyprus

Painting in the Hellenistic period in Cyprus is surely underrepresented among surviving remains. Earlier painting is known from a marble sarcophagus (see Classical Painting in Cyprus). Mention should also be made of poorly dated Greco-Roman painted tombs, albeit with mainly decorative motifs, found at Nea Paphos. Otherwise, the Hellenistic period is anchored by a cluster of seven painted stelae from Amathus. Hermary 1987 adds a late-20th-century discovery to the corpus first published in Murray, et al. 1900.

Hermary, Antoine. 1987. Stèles funéraires décorées. In La nécropole d’Amathonte: Tombes 113–367. Vol. 3, Part 2, Statuettes, sarcophages et stèles décorées. Edited by Vassos Karageorghis, Olivier Picard, and Christiane Tytgat, 71–75. Études Chypriotes 9. Nicosia, Cyprus: Imprimenerie Nicolaou.
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A stela found in the late 20th century (p. 72) joins six others now in the British Museum (see Murray, et al. 1900). In general, the group with its standard themes aligns well with similar stelae from Demetrias and Alexandria.
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Murray, Alexander Stuart, Arthur H. Smith, and Henry Beauchamp Walters. 1900. Excavations in Cyprus. London: British Museum Press.
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Brief description of six painted stelae from Amathus, now in the British Museum, discovered in early excavations at the site.
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Hellenistic Painting and Pictorial Mosaics in Egypt

Whitehouse 2010 gives an excellent overview of the scant painted remains representing the complicated ethnicity of this thriving successor kingdom. Best known are the paintings of the rock-cut tomb of Siamun (or Si-Amun) at Gabal al-Mawta (also Gebel el-Mawta or Jabal al-Mawta), in the Ammoniac oasis of Siwa (Arabic Santariya). Here, Fakhry 1990 and Kuhlmann 1988 take opposite sides on issues of “Hellenicity,” while Lembke 2004 offers a balanced view of the dual style that informs the iconography. Bresciani 2003 studies paintings in a shrine identified by some as a cenotaph of Alexander the Great at Kom Madi near Medinet Madi (ancient Marmouthis) in the Fayum. Elsewhere, a very minor painted artifact is the “trade sign” of a Greek from the Memphite Serapaeum at Saqqara (also Saqqâra or Sakkara), on which Thompson 2012 comments. Nowicka 1979 discusses Hellenistic painting as written about in Egyptian papyri. And finally, Daszewski 1985 examines a corpus of mosaics, with emphasis on those of pictorial type. Extended research could proceed in one of several directions, whether among Hadra pottery wares, best known from the eponymous cemetery in Alexandria, or graphic arts in Ptolemaic papyri, including the Book of the Dead, for which there is considerable bibliography.

Bresciani, Edda. 2003. Kom Madi 1977 e 1978: Le pitture murali del cenotafio di Alessandro Magno / The mural paintings of Alexander the Great’s cenotaph. Biblioteca di Studi Egittologici 4. Pisa, Italy: Edizioni Ets.
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An updated excavation report together with color photographs of a mud-brick shrine at Kom Madi (English text, pp. 127–175). The author identifies the monument as a chapel-shrine to Alexander the Great on the basis of pharaonic-style paintings that include foreigners in Greek dress. She believes one of these to represent Alexander himself.
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Daszewski, Wiktor A. 1985. Corpus of mosaics from Egypt. Vol. 1, Hellenistic and early Roman period. Aegyptiaca Treverensia 3. Mainz, Germany: Philipp von Zabern.
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Excellent, detailed publication of mosaics. Painting prototypes are suggested for a few Hellenistic mosaics in opus vermiculatum technique (use of tiny stones). Also see Alexandria (Ancient Alexandrea ad Aegyptum), Guimier-Sorbets 1998, cited under Alexandria (Ancient Alexandrea ad Aegyptum) for new finds from Alexandria. A second, anticipated volume has not appeared.
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Fakhry, Ahmed. 1990. Siwa oasis. Cairo, Egypt: American Univ. in Cairo Press.
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Originally published in 1973 and reprinted in 1982 by the same press as The Oases of Egypt, Vol. 1, Siwa Oasis. In a brief essay with limited illustrations (pp. 190–206), the author discusses the pharaonic-style paintings of the tomb of Siamun in terms of ethnic hybridity, on the basis of skin coloration and dress that represent a form of visual bilingualism. The tomb is currently accessible.
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Kuhlmann, Klaus P. 1988. Das Ammoneion: Archäologie, Geschichte und Kultpraxis des Orakels von Siwa. Archäologische Veröffentlichungen 75. Mainz, Germany: Philipp von Zabern.
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The author discusses the tomb of Siamun in detail (pp. 83–85), complemented by superb, large-scale color illustrations. Disagreeing with previous interpretation of certain foreign motifs serving as ethnic signifiers, he argues provocatively for their role as visual status symbols befitting a man of some significance.
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Lembke, Katja. 2004. Aus der Oase des Sonnengottes—das Grab des Siamun in Siwa. In Fremdheit–Eigenheit: Ägypten, Griechenland und Rom; Austausch und Verständnis; Symposion des Liebieghauses, Frankfurt am Main vom 28.–30. November 2002 und 16.–19. Januar 2003. Edited by Peter C. Bol, Gabriele Kaminski, and Caterina Maderna, 363–373. Städel-Jahrbuch 19. Stuttgart: Scheufele.
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The author focuses on architecture and art-historical details, zeroing in on Hellenizing details. Her valuable discussion, complete with drawings of the paintings, considers the elusive ethnicity of Siamun while stressing the melding of cultural identities.
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Nowicka, Maria. 1979. La peinture dans les papyrus grecs. Translated by Jerzy Wolf. Archeologia 30:21–28.
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Egyptian papyri of the Hellenistic period refer to wall paintings as well as pinakes. Certain details of artisans and craftsmanship emerge.
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Thompson, Dorothy J. 2012. Memphis under the Ptolemies. 2d ed. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.
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Discusses a painted “trade sign” from the Serapaeum at Saqqara (p. 80) now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. A Greek verse identifies it as belonging to an oneirokritos (a skilled dream-judge or interpreter) from Crete, obviously beamed at Hellenomemphites.
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Whitehouse, Helen. 2010. Mosaics and painting in Graeco-Roman Egypt. In A companion to ancient Egypt. Vol. 2. Edited by Alan B. Lloyd, 1008–1031. Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World. Malden, MA, and Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
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Excellent overview of the few preserved paintings together with the more abundant corpus of mosaics, as well as the evidence from illustrated papyri. Importantly, the author addresses questions of “artistic duality” and the elusive “Alexandrian style.”
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Alexandria (Ancient Alexandrea ad Aegyptum)

The antiquities of multicultural Alexandria are preserved in spotty fashion, partially as a result of heavy overbuilding of the modern city. Surviving paintings come from context of rock-cut hypogaea: walls, loculus slabs, and stelae. Venit 2002 is basic. Adriani 1936 discusses the most important painted monument, the Tomb of Mustapha Pasha I (or Mustapha Kamel I). Brown 1957 offers the fundamental study of loculus slabs and stelae, while Rouveret 2004 discusses similar material now in the Louvre. Daszewski and Abd-el-Fattah 1990 examines an unusual loculus slab. Guimier-Sorbets 1998 explores mosaic finds from Alexandria discovered in the late 20th century during construction of the New Library of Alexandria.

Adriani, Achille. 1936. La nécropole de Moustafa Pacha. Annuaire du Musée Gréco-Romain 2. Alexandria, Egypt: Whitehead Morris.
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The Tomb of Mustapha Pasha I contains the faded but most interesting surviving painting from Hellenistic Alexandria. The significance of the libation scene is addressed.
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Brown, Blanche R. 1957. Ptolemaic paintings and mosaics and the Alexandrian style. Monographs on Archaeology and Fine Arts 6. Cambridge, MA: Archaeological Institute of America.
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Basic study of the painted loculus slabs and stelae from Alexandrian tombs, now scattered among different museums, including, most prominently, the Graeco-Roman Museum in Alexandria, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Louvre. Full understanding of the “Soldiers’ Tomb” (pp. 4–12) remains problematic. Also see Sekunda 2001, cited under Sidon (Arabic Saïda or Sayda), Lebanon.
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Daszewski, Wiktor A., and Ahmed Abd-el-Fattah. 1990. A Hellenistic painting from Alexandria with landscape elements. In Akten des XIII. Internationalen Kongresses für Klassische Archäologie, Berlin 1988. Edited by Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, 441–442. Mainz, Germany: Philipp von Zabern.
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The authors discuss an unusual painted loculus slab with landscape elements from rescue excavations east of the Shatby Cemetery. The painting is seen as reflecting now-missing Alexandrian monumental paintings that, in turn, may have influenced Roman wall paintings.
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Guimier-Sorbets, Anne-Marie. 1998. Alexandrie: Les mosaïques hellénistiques découvertes sur le terrain de la nouvelle Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Revue Archéologique, n.s. 2:263–290.
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Discussion of very fine mosaics uncovered during construction of the new Library of Alexandria.
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Rouveret, Agnès. 2004. Stelès et plaques d’Alexandrie. In Peintures grecques antiques: La collection hellénistique du Musée du Louvre. By Agnès Rouveret, 29–92. Collection “Trésors du Louvre.” Paris: Musée du Louvre.
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Detailed study of the loculus slabs and stelae in the Louvre from Alexandrian tombs, as well as discussion of pigments and painting technique (pp. 133–161).
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Venit, Marjorie Susan. 2002. The monumental tombs of ancient Alexandria: The theater of the dead. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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The fundamental study on Alexandrian funerary monuments, including those with painted decoration. Excellent, well-illustrated work that should be the starting point for students and scholars alike.
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Hellenistic Painting in Cyrene, Libya

The sprawling necropolis of rock-cut tombs at Cyrene, in continuous use from Greek through Byzantine times with squatters’ occupation ever since, has preserved only a few paintings, and these are hard to date. Thorn 2005 is a searching catalogue of tombs, though scant attention is paid to painting. Bacchielli 1993 gives an overview of regional tomb paintings, most of them Roman, but starting with the “Tomb of the Swing” (la tomba dell’altalena or la tombe de la balançoire), which is discussed in detail in Bacchielli 1976 and, importantly, following restoration, in Rouveret 2004. Bacchielli 1996 introduces the “Tomb of Thanatos,” while Santucci 2014 offers a preliminary report on the newly investigated “Tomb of the Illusionistic Architecture” (or la tomba dell’architettura illusionistica).

Bacchielli, Lidiano. 1976. Le pitture dalla “Tomba dell’Altalena” di Cirene nel Museo del Louvre. In Special issue: Cirene e la Grecia. Quaderni di Archeologia della Libia 8:355–383.
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Fundamental for the painted metopes of the “Tomb of the Swing.” To be read in conjunction with Rouveret 2004, written after their restoration at the Louvre.
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Bacchielli, Lidiano. 1993. Pittura funeraria antica in Cirenaica. Libyan Studies 24:77–116.
DOI: 10.1017/S0263718900001989Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A useful, illustrated overview of regional paintings from Hellenistic to early Christian times, beginning with the “Tomb of the Swing.”
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Bacchielli, Lidiano. 1996. La tomba di Thanatos nella Necropoli Sud di Cirene. Libya Antiqua 2.2: 27–33.
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The peristyle tomb retains scant remains of labeled figures, including a defaced “Thanatos,” personification of Death. An inscription records a name, presumably of the deceased.
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Rouveret, Agnès. 2004. La tombe de la Balançoire à Cyrène. In Peintures grecques antiques: La collection hellénistique du Musée du Louvre. By Agnès Rouveret, 93–126. Collection “Trésors du Louvre.” Paris: Musée du Louvre.
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The author presents the metopes from the “Tomb of the Swing,” now in the Louvre. Included are earlier reconstructions and discussion of the iconography and results of pigment analysis that revealed the presence of mixed techniques in fresco and encaustic (pp. 148–161).
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Santucci, Anna. 2014. La “tomba dell’architettura illusionistica” a Cirene: Una versione locale del c.d. “Secondo Stile.” In Antike Malerei zwischen Lokalstil und Zeitstil: Akten des XI. internationalen Kolloquiums der AIPMA (Association Internationale pour la Peinture Murale Antique), 13.–17. September 2010 in Ephesos. Edited by Norbert Zimmermann, 289–296. Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften: Philosophisch-Historische Klasse 468. Vienna: Verlag de Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften.
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Preliminary publication of an intriguing tomb with poorly preserved figures, shown in an illusionistically rendered architectural setting in Tomb S64, the “Tomb of the Illusionistic Architecture.” The author discusses the controversial terminology connected with the Hellenistic “Painted Architectural Style” represented here, and the Roman “Pompeian Second Style.”
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Thorn, James Copland. 2005. The necropolis of Cyrene: Two hundred years of exploration. Monografie di Archeologia Libica 26. Rome: “L’Erma” di Bretschneider.
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The author documents the history of investigations with a full catalogue of tombs, their contents, and their decoration. Important, particularly in light of the ongoing, broad destruction of Cyrene’s burial grounds.
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Hellenistic Painting in the Punic Mediterranean

The culture of the western Phoenician colonial world, stretching from Cyprus to Spain, is often defined in terms of diverse “Punicities” and sometimes is expressed as Lybico-Punic, Siculo-Punic, and so on. Moscati 1988 provides an excellent overview of the Phoenicians and their culture throughout the Mediterranean, including an important essay on painting (Amadasi Guzzo 1988). Two hypogaea at Cagliari (ancient Karalis), Sardinia, from its necropolis Loc. Tuvixeddu (or S. Avendrace) are studied in Canepa 1984. Vento 2000 contains a corpus of Siculo-Punic painted grave stelae from Lilibeo (Lilibaeum, Marsala). Representing a purely Hellenic style are the imported marble sarcophagi collected in Hitzl 1991, which are further discussed in Haumesser 2007.

Amadasi Guzzo, Maria Giulia. 1988. Painting. In The Phoenicians. Edited by Sabatino Moscati, 448–455. Milan: Bompiani.
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A good overview of Punic paintings that includes a few painted tombs at Sardinia and Tunisia, stelae on Sicily, and scattered painted ostrich eggs. Painting is aptly described as “a form of colored-in drawing” (p. 448). Outstanding is Tomb VIII in the necropolis of Djebel Mlezza, near Kerkouane in the region of Cape Bon, Tunisia.
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Canepa, Maurizia. 1984. Cagliari (Karalis): Loc. Tuvixeddu. In I Sardi: La Sardegna dal paleolitico all’età romana; Guida per schede dei siti archeologici sardi. Edited by Emmanuel Anati, 45–51. Le Grandi Stagioni. Milan: Jaca Book.
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Brief illustrated discussion of the two painted tombs from the necropolis at Cagliari (ancient Karalis) on Sardinia: a chamber tomb, dubbed the “Tomb of the Uraeus” (also la tomba dell’ureo), and a shaft tomb, the “Tomb of Sid” (also la tomba di Sid).
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Haumesser, Laurent. 2007. La peinture en mouvement: Les sarcophages en marbre de Carthage et d’Etrurie. Paper presented at a conference held in 2003 in Orvieto, Italy. In Etruschi, greci, fenici e cartaginesi nel Mediterraneo centrale: Atti del XIV Convegno internazionale di studi sulla storia e l’archeologia dell’Etruria. Edited by Giuseppe M. Della Fina, 271–291. Annali della Fondazione per il Museo “C. Faina” 14. Rome: Edizioni Quasar.
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The author discusses the circulation of sarcophagi made of Parian marble, focusing on Tarquinian and Carthaginian exemplars. Important is his discussion of painted ornamentation in what appears to be a common pictorial language that includes South Russia and Macedonia.
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Hitzl, Ingrid. 1991. Die griechischen Sarkophage der archaischen und klassischen Zeit. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology and Literature 104. Jonsered, Sweden: Paul Åström.
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Marble sarcophagi of architectural type from Carthage, now in the Museum at Carthage (pp. 185–195, cat. nos. 23–32). Painted figural decoration, typically in the pediment, is limited to real and mythical animals.
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Moscati, Sabatino, ed. 1988. The Phoenicians. Milan: Bompiani.
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Translated in the same year from the Italian (I Fenici), the essays in this superbly illustrated catalogue give a historical overview with emphasis on material culture (chapter on painting is on pp. 448–455; see Amadasi Guzzo 1988). An excellent starting point.
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Vento, Maurizio. 2000. Le stele dipinte di Lilibeo. Marsala, Italy: Centro Europeo di Studi Economici e Sociali.
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Comprehensive publication of painted Siculo-Punic stelae, well illustrated in color, now housed in the Museo Archeologico Regionale in Palermo and the Museo Archeologico Baglio Anselmi in Marsala, with one in the Museum of the Whitaker Foundation of Motya (also Mozia or Mothia). Discussion includes issues of its Puno-Hellenic iconography and theories concerning chronology.
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Hellenistic Painting in West Greece (Magna Graecia)

The corpus of painting in pre-Roman Italy is dominated by tomb paintings in Etruria, on the one hand, and those at Paestum, on the other, though there are scatterings throughout South Italy and Sicily. As already noted, the scholarly world traditionally tends to treat Etruscan culture as a separate entity (see Lisa Pieraccini’s Oxford Bibliographies in Classics article Etruscan Wall Painting), even though interconnections with Greeks to the east and Italic neighbors to the south are readily apparent. Important observations to this effect are made in Steingräber 2006 (cited under Overviews and General Studies) on an East-West cultural and artistic koiné, and in Rouveret 2014 (cited under Overviews and General Studies) on pre-Roman developments in Italy. Embedded in much scholarship since the late 20th century are questions surrounding traditional views of “Hellenization” and “Romanization” in light of new insights that promote a more fluid concept of “identity” than prevailed in the past. Discussion of possible relationship of paintings with vases in polychrome tempera technique appears in a separate heading.

Overviews and General Studies

The starting point is Rouveret 2014 for a broad, up-to-date discussion of Western painting. Detailed regional studies include Benassai 2001 for Campania, Tinè Bertocchi 1964 for Apulia, and Pontrandolfo and Rouveret 1992 for Paestum. Steingräber 2006 contributes a solid essay on the East-West artistic koiné. Essays in La Torre and Torelli 2011 are broadly oriented toward Western issues, and Mazzei 2002 is concerned with circulation of subject matter. ICAR (Iconographie et Archéologie pour l’Italie préromaine) is a welcome database for scholarly research in Italic painting during the pre-Roman era.

Benassai, Rita. 2001. La pittura dei Campani e dei Sanniti. Atlante Tematico di Topografia Antica, Supplementi 9. Rome: “L’Erma” di Bretschneider.
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Monumental overview of regional tombs, with contextual evidence. Included are full discussions of styles and chronologies. Indispensable resource.
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ICAR.
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A database in progress of which three sections concern Etruscan, Campanian, and Apulian funerary painting.
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La Torre, Gioaccchino Francesco, and Mario Torelli, eds. 2011. Pittura ellenistica in Italia e in Sicilia: Linguaggi e tradizioni; Atti del convegno di studi, Messina, 24–25 settembre 2009. Archaeologica 163. Rome: Giorgio Bretschneider.
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A heterogeneous group of essays, some of which examine the diffusion of paintings in the West. Included are wall paintings and mosaics as well as different classes of polychromatic pottery. Much can be learned in selective reading.
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Mazzei, Marina. 2002. La Daunia e la Grecia settentrionale: Riflessioni sulle esperienze pittoriche del primo ellenismo. In La pittura parietale in Macedonia e Magna Grecia: Atti del Convegno internazionale di studi di in recordo di Mario Napoli, Salerno-Paestum, 21–23 novembre 1996. Edited by Angela Pontrandolfo, 67–77. Salerno, Italy: Pandemos.
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The author discusses circulation of subject matter and addresses the important question of “cartoons.”
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Pontrandolfo, Angela, and Agnès Rouveret. 1992. Le tombe dipinte di Paestum. Modena, Italy: Franco Cosimo Panini Editore.
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Exemplary publication of Lucanian-period tombs. Detailed descriptions are accompanied by excellent photographs.
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Rouveret, Agnès. 2014. Etruscan and Italic tomb painting, c. 400–200 B.C. In The Cambridge history of painting in the classical world. Edited by Jerome J. Pollitt, 238–287. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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The author, while focusing on painting on the Italic Peninsula, discusses the so-called Etrusco-Italic koiné. She also considers the transfer of Greek models to Etruscan and Roman areas. A must-read on the subject.
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Steingräber, Stephan. 2006. From Asia Minor to Magna Graecia, from Thrace to Alexandria: The “koiné” and the place of Etruscan painting in the art of the ancient Mediterranean. In Abundance of life: Etruscan wall painting. By Stephan Steingräber, 281–303. Translated by Russell Stockman. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum.
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Translated from Pittura murale etrusca, published in the same year. In this chapter the author provides an excellent overview of interrelationships among paintings currently known from East to West.
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Tinè Bertocchi, Fernanda. 1964. La pittura funeraria Apula. Monumenti Antichi della Magna Grecia 1. Naples, Italy: Gaetano Macchiaroli Editore.
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Fundamental, illustrated work on Apulian funerary paintings through time, organized by region.
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Color and Technical Aspects

Analysis of paintings from the West is having a significant impact on the field as a whole. Brecoulaki 2001 contains results of pigment analysis on a selection of pre-Roman monuments. Parallel interests in technical and coloristic developments are discussed in Rouveret 2002, in which Paestan monuments in particular are compared with their counterparts throughout Italy and beyond.

Brecoulaki, Hariclia. 2001. L’esperienza del colore nella pittura funeraria dell’Italia preromana (V–III secolo a.C.). Materiae 6. Naples, Italy: Electa.
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Publication of pigment analysis of selected pre-Roman monuments, late 5th through early 3rd centuries, across Italy. Especially relevant here are analytical discussions of monuments at Paestum (pp. 13–16), Arpi (pp. 17–20), and Gnathia (Egnazia) (pp. 18–19); the Amazon Sarcophagus from Tarquinia (pp. 21–22); and Centuripe wares (p. 24).
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Rouveret, Agnès. 2002. Function and uses of color in South Italian painting of the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. In Color in ancient Greece: The role of color in ancient Greek art and architecture (700–31 B.C.); Proceedings of the conference held in Thessaloniki, 12–16 April 2000. Edited by Michael A. Tiverios and Despina S. Tsiafakis, 191–199. Thessaloniki, Greece: Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki.
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The author, interested in the “color revolution” of the second half of the 4th century, examines chromatic effects as indicative of chronology and notes cases of three-dimensional drawing and attempts at shading in different Paestan workshops.
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Arpi (Ancient Argos Hippion), Daunia/Apulia

A group of hypogaea of Arpi in Daunia, the northernmost part of ancient Apulia, were excavated in the 1980s, already partially destroyed in a region notorious for its tombaroli (tomb robbers). The most important of them, the “Tomb of Medusa” (la tomba della Medusa), is published in Mazzei 1995, which Steingräber 2000 expands on.

Mazzei, Marina, ed. 1995. Arpi: L’ipogeo della Medusa e la necropoli. Bibliotheca Archaeologica 3. Bari, Italy: Edipuglia.
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Indispensable, detailed, and wide-ranging publication concerning the so-called Tomb of Medusa and its neighboring hypogaea and much more. The multigenerational Tomb of Medusa and its remaining contents are discussed exhaustively, with due consideration given to possible Macedonian connections. Specialists address the mosaic floor and wall paintings, including the remarkable “signed” pinax. Dating at this site remains problematic.
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Steingräber, Stephan. 2000. Arpi–Apulien–Makedonien: Studien zum unteritalischen Grabwesen in hellenistischer Zeit. Mainz, Germany: Philipp von Zabern.
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The author repeats much of the description in Mazzei 1995 before offering extensive comparative material throughout Magna Graecia, Etruria, and Greece, with emphasis on Macedonia and Epirus as well as Asia Minor and Alexandria. Includes CD-ROM.
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Ascoli Satriano (Ancient Ausculum), Daunia/Apulia

The antiquities of the Daunian site of Ausculum are currently best known through a group of reassembled marble artifacts, among which is a painted podanipter (foot bath). The material is published in Bottini and Setari 2009.

Bottini, Angelo, and Elisabetta Setari, eds. 2009. I marmi dipinti di Ascoli Satriano. Milan: Electa.
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A marble podanipter (ex-Getty, ex-Templesman), now repatriated to the Museums Center of Ascoli Satriano, is here recontextualized as part of a larger assemblage, though its place of discovery remains unknown. The vessel, of Parian marble and whose well-preserved painting is in Greek style, is thoroughly analyzed, stylistically and technically.
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Canosa di Puglia (Greek Canusion, Latin Canusium), Daunia/Apulia

Important Daunian city with many hypogaea, some of which have wall paintings. A useful brief overview is given in Corrente 2015.

Corrente, Marisa. 2015. Descensus ad Inferos: Taming (easily) the monsters in the Daunian pictorial tradition; The exorcism of the underworld and the representation of opposites boundaries. Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies 4.1: 457–468.
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The author assembles Canosan tomb paintings in a discussion of Daunian funerary imagery.
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Capua, Campania

Originally an Etruscan outpost, Capua rose in importance under Samnite rule. Roman remains dominate the site but early tombs surround it, including a number of Hellenistic date. Activities of the Second World War heavily destroyed many tomb paintings, for which we rely on early records. Benassai 2001 provides excellent coverage of the material.

Benassai, Rita. 2001. La pittura dei Campani e dei Sanniti. Atlante Tematico di Topografia Antica, Supplementi 9. Rome: “L’Erma” di Bretschneider.
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Publication with contexts of Capuan tomb paintings (pp. 22–80, C.1–C.39). Includes discussion on the “Capuan school” (pp. 230–234). Discussing Campanian/Samnite paintings, the author emphasizes the role of Attic art, which she believes was decisive both in Greek and non-Greek areas (pp. 233–236).
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Cumae (Greek Kumai, Italian Cuma), Campania

Paintings from this Euboean colony include painted tombs of the Samnite period, collected in Benassai 2001; Caputo 2006 adds a more recent discovery. A most impressive series of temple metopes are published in preliminary form in Rescigno 2010.

Benassai, Rita. 2001. La pittura dei Campani e dei Sanniti. Atlante Tematico di Topografia Antica, Supplementi 9. Rome: “L’Erma” di Bretschneider.
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Publication of Cumaean tomb paintings, with contextual material (pp. 80–91, C.1–C.13). The author discusses the Cumaean style (pp. 234–236).
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Caputo, Paolo. 2006. Una nuova tomba osca dipinta della necropoli di Cuma (Pozzuoli/NA): Rapporto preliminare. Paper presented at one of two conferences held in 2003–2004 in Alife, Italy, and other locations. In In itinere: Ricerche di archeologia in Campania; Atti del I e del II ciclo di Conferenze di ricerca archeologica nell’Alto Casertano. Edited by Francesco Sirano, 23–31. Sant’Angelo in Formis, Italy: Lavieri Editore.
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Preliminary publication of an important, then-recently discovered painted chamber tomb, with subject matter unparalleled in the Campanian and Samnite repertoire and descended perhaps from Etruscan prototypes.
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Rescigno, Carlo. 2010. Metope dipinte con centauromachia da un tempio Cumano di epoca Sannitica: Osservazioni preliminari. In Atti del X Congresso internazionale dell’AIPMA (Association Internationale pour la Peinture Murale Antique), Napoli, 17–21 settembre 2007. Vol. 1. Edited by Irene Bragantini, 15–28. Annali di Archeologia e Storia Antica 18.1. Naples, Italy: Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale.”
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Preliminary publication of the painted metopes from the early Hellenistic Temple A, now in the Archaeological Museum of the Phlegrean Fields (Campi Flegrei). Iconographic comparisons are broadly drawn, ranging from South Italy to Macedonia. Important testimony of paintings from sacred context that link the world of the living with that of the dead.
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Gnathia (Also Gnatia, Egnazia, Ignatia, Greek Egnatia), Messapian Apulia

The Messapian town of Gnathia, eventually taken over by Rome, has left few remains other than tombs. Of them, Tomb 12 stands out for its fragmentary figural paintings and is discussed in detail in L’Arab 1994.

L’Arab, Gilda. 1994. La tomba 12 di Egnazia: Una rilettura. Taras: Rivista di Archeologia 14.2: 311–337.
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Four remaining segments of the frescoes from Tomb 12 are housed in the National Museum of Naples. An inscription identifies the deceased. The author explores iconographic parallels, focusing on representations of arms and armor as status markers throughout the Mediterranean in discussion of the homogeneous aristocratic society spread across northern Greece, Magna Graecia, and Etruria.
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Naples (Greek Neapolis, Italian Napoli), Campania

Neapolis was an influential consumer and transmitter of Greek culture, though little of Antiquity has survived the combined effects of overbuilding and bombing during World War II. Baldassarre 2010 discusses Neapolitan tomb painting, while Valerio 2007 focuses on Tomb C in the Via dei Cristallini.

Baldassarre, Ida. 2010. Napoli ellenistica e la produzione pittorica Campana. In Atti del X Congresso internazionale dell’AIPMA (Association Internationale pour la Peinture Murale Antique), Napoli, 17–21 settembre 2007. Vol. 1. Edited by Irene Bragantini, 3–13. Annali di Archeologia e Storia Antica 18.1. Naples, Italy: Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale.”
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Brief overview of Neapolitan painting, highlighting originality of its figurative subject matter in comparison to comparable Campanian and Lucanian material. The author notes the importance of Macedonian influence.
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Valerio, Valeria. 2007. Observations sur le décor peint de la tombe C du complexe monumental des Cristallini, Naples. Paper presented at a conference held 10 and 27 March 2004 at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. In Peinture et couleur dans le monde grec antique. Edited by Sophie Descamps-Lequime, 148–161. Paris: Musée du Louvre.
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The author addresses painterly issues in the elaborate Tomb C in the Via dei Cristallini, taking into account Macedonian procedures in a context of regional iconographic choices. She suggests that two painters may have been at work in a unified operation.
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Nola, Campania

The Italic city of Nola, like so many others, came under Samnite influence, a period that produced the ten painted tombs currently known, whose paintings are divided among museums at Naples and Nola and at the Berlin Antiquarium. Benassai 2001 is a solid overview, and De Caro 1983–1984 focuses on a warrior’s tomb in the Via Seminario.

Benassai, Rita. 2001. La pittura dei Campani e dei Sanniti. Atlante Tematico di Topografia Antica, Supplementi 9. Rome: “L’Erma” di Bretschneider.
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The author, in an expansive study of Campanian paintings, publishes Nolan material with assemblages, where known, together with discussions of iconography and chronology (pp. 91–101, plate nos. 1–10). The high quality of the “Nolan school” is emphasized (pp. 225–230). Artistic interconnections are drawn with Capuan paintings.
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De Caro, Stefano. 1983–1984. Una nuova tomba dipinta da Nola. Rivista dell’Istituto Nazionale d’Archeologia e Storia dell’Arte, 3d ser. 6–7: 71–95.
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Detailed, well-illustrated publication of the half-chamber warrior’s tomb in the Via Seminario, discovered looted but with paintings well preserved. Two painterly hands are detected.
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Paestum (Italic Paistom, Greek Poseidonia), Lucania

The Greek colony of Poseidonia, which produced the iconic temples still standing and the classical “Tomb of the Diver” [see Classical Painting in West Greece (Magna Graecia): Paestum (Italic Paistom, Greek Poseidonia), Lucania] came, once under Lucanian hegemony, to new forms of expression. Painting styles changed more than once, with Attic influence playing an important role in the development of a hybrid style in the mid-4th century. Important is the fact that many tombs, mainly cist graves, survive intact with their full assemblages. Pontrandolfo and Rouveret 1992 is foundational, and Pontrandolfo, et al. 2004 offers a well-balanced overview of the paintings. Cipriani and Pontrandolfo 2010 is on archaeometric investigations. The tomb paintings and assemblages are in the Archaeological Museum of Paestum.

Cipriani, Marina, and Angela Pontrandolfo. 2010. Sistemi decorativi e officine a Paestum. In Atti del X Congresso internazionale dell’AIPMA (Association Internationale pour la Peinture Murale Antique), Napoli, 17–21 settembre 2007. Vol. 2. Edited by Irene Bragantini, 595–605. Annali di Archeologia e Storia Antica 18.2. Naples, Italy: Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale.”
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The authors report on archaeometric investigations regarding studies of plaster and paint that relate working methods found in tombs, mainly cist graves, with those of Paestan temples. Further understanding of workshops has emerged together with insight into evolution of local tradition, even as it poses chronological questions. Important is the authors’ discussion of classical tombs, plastered but not figurally painted.
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Pontrandolfo, Angela, and Agnès Rouveret. 1992. Le tombe dipinte di Paestum. Modena, Italy: Franco Cosimo Panini Editore.
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Exemplary publication of Lucanian-period tombs (apart from the Spinazzo Necropolis). Detailed descriptions are accompanied by excellent photographs. Significant results include a better fix on local ceramics, whose chronology as established by A. D. Trendall is raised significantly, which in turn offers closer dating for the tomb paintings. An important observation suggests that tombs were probably painted at time of burial. Suggestions that tomb painters and vase painters come from the same workshops point toward important paths for future research. An indispensable study.
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Pontrandolfo, Angela, Agnès Rouveret, and Marina Cipriani. 2004. The painted tombs of Paestum. Salerno, Italy: Pandemos.
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Succinct, well-illustrated chapters that briefly summarize Pontrandolfo and Rouveret 1992, but with the addition of a chapter on the tombs of Spinazzo. Excellent introduction to the paintings for students and the general public alike.
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Pompeii, Campania

Samnite Pompeii of pre-Roman times is emerging slowly with targeted excavations. Seiler 2010 examines important, though very fragmentary, figured wall paintings from this phase.

Seiler, Florian. 2010. Testimonianze singolari di pittura ellenistica a Pompei. In Atti del X Congresso internazionale dell’AIPMA (Association Internationale pour la Peinture Murale Antique), Napoli, 17–21 settembre 2007. Vol. 1. Edited by Irene Bragantini, 147–158. Annali di Archeologia e Storia Antica 18.1. Naples, Italy: Università degli studi di Napoli “L’Orientale.”
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Preliminary report on new finds from pre-Roman phases, especially Hellenistic figured frieze remains recovered from sondages (test trenches) in House VI 16, 26–27. The author comments on influence from Greco-Italic and especially Etruscan sources.
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Rome (Italian Roma)

Rome, entering the greater Mediterranean cultural arena with the First Illyrian War (229/8 BCE) if not before, but already involved with Hellenic culture through its conquest of Italy, was not only an admirer and consumer of Hellenism but also a channel for its diffusion in the West in ways still being explored. The three sets of surviving paintings in Middle Republican Rome, discovered long ago, are all funerary: the Tomb of the Scipioni on the Via Appia (il sepolcro degli Scipioni) and the two fragmentary cycles from a necropolis on the Esquiline and now in the Capitoline Museum, the “Arieti Tomb” (la tomba Arieti), and the so-called Esquiline Tomb (also called the “Tomb of Fabius” or la tomba di Fabio/Fannio), the latter cited in virtually every book on Roman monuments. Bragantini 2014 provides an excellent overview, and Talamo 2008 also discusses them at length and includes excellent photographs in context of triumphal representations.

Bragantini, Irene. 2014. Roman painting in the Republic and Early Empire. In The Cambridge history of painting in the classical world. Edited by Jerome J. Pollitt, 302–369. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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The author discusses the fragmentary material and its strongly narrative content within the history of Roman triumphal painting (pp. 302–306). A solid introduction to the subject.
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Talamo, Emilia. 2008. La scenografia del trionfo nella pittura funeraria. In Trionfi romani. Edited by Eugenio La Rocca and Stefano Tortorella, 62–71. Milan: Electa.
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Excellent, balanced, and well-illustrated discussion of the three sets of frescoes as early triumphal representations.
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Sicily (Italian Sicilia)

Painting in culturally diverse Sicily is documented in Archaic times through a series of painted antefixes and frieze plaques (see under Archaic Greek Painting in West Greece (Magna Graecia)). We next leap to the Hellenistic period, with a small body of painted Siculo-Punic stelae (see Vento 2000, cited under Hellenistic Painting in the Punic Mediterranean), and are left with only a very fragmentary wall painting at Murlo. Merra 2013 provides an overview of Sicilian mural painting. Further research might include figural paintings on a series of sculpted busts.

Merra, Alessandra. 2013. Hellenistic tradition in the mural painting of ancient Sicily. In Sicily: Art and invention between Greece and Rome. Edited by Claire L. Lyons, Michael Bennett, and Clemente Marconi, 202–209. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum.
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Brief overview of Sicilian wall treatments down to the period of Romanization, ranging from First and Second Styles to the unique figured mural at Morgantina, which awaits final publication.
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Tarentum (Greek Taras, Italian Taranto), Apulia

The limited corpus of Tarentine figural paintings in the Hellenistic period hints at a wealth in the medium that must have existed in this highly successful Greek colony, whose remains are mainly covered by the modern city. Dell’Aglio and Lippolis 2003 examines (or reexamines) all the painted tombs. Calia and Giannotta 2005 presents results of pigment analysis from the “Tomb of the Festoons” (la tomba dei festoni), while Gabellone, et al. 2013 reports on the “virtual visit” project of the Taranto Museum, which focuses on a selection of Tarentine tombs in situ that are no longer visible.

Calia, Angela, and Maria Teresa Giannotta. 2005. La tomba dei Festoni di via Crispi a Taranto: Individuazione e riconoscimento dei pigmenti utilizzati nelle pitture. In Atti del III Congresso Nazionale di Archeometria: Bressanone, febbraio 2004. Edited by Claudio D’Amico, 271–288. Bologna, Italy: Pàtron Editore.
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Presented are results of pigment analysis undertaken by various scientific means from the “Tomb of the Festoons.”
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Dell’Aglio, Antonietta, and Enzo Lippolis. 2003. La pittura funeraria a Taranto. Archeologia Classica 54.4: 97–158.
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Important study with illustrated catalogue of seventy-six known Tarentine painted funerary monuments. Close study of archival material combined with reinvestigation of assemblages together with new discoveries clarify many details, including chronology. Among issues addressed are the larger picture within Magna Graecia and the role of Macedonia and Alexandria.
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Gabellone, Francesco, Ivan Ferrari, Maria Teresa Giannotta, and Antonietta Dell’Aglio. 2013. From museum to original site: A 3D environment for virtual visits to finds recontextualized in their original setting. In Proceedings of the 2013 Digital Heritage International Congress (DigitalHeritage), 28 October–1 November 2013, Marseille, France. Vol. 2. Edited by Alonzo C. Addison, Livio De Luca, Gabriele Guidi, and Sofia Percarin, 215–222. Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
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Report on the successful installation in the National Archaeological Museum of Taranto of the project “Marta Racconta: Storie Virtuali di Tesori Nascosti” (“Museo ARcheologico Nazionale di TAranto Speaks: A Virtual History of Hidden Treasures”), which offers an outstanding “virtual visit” in REALTIME 3D to three hypogaea in the Tarentine Greek necropolis.
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Tarquinia, Etruria

Etruscan painting appears elsewhere in Oxford Bibliographies in Classics (see Lisa Pieraccini’s article “Etruscan Wall Painting”), although, as noted, scholars are increasingly integrating all parts of the ancient world into the picture. Note was already made of possible Ionian painters in Archaic Etruria [see Steingräber 2014, cited under Archaic Greek Painting in West Greece (Magna Graecia)]. Here for the Hellenistic period, only the Amazon Sarcophagus is included. This artifact is indeed much discussed in different contexts, and questions of attribution, whether to Etruscan or Greek artisans, remain the subject of debate. Bottini and Setari 2007 provides an excellent full study of the monument.

Bottini, Angelo, and Elisabetta Setari, eds. 2007. Il sarcofago delle Amazzoni. Milan: Electa.
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The authors present a full study of the painted alabaster sarcophagus of Ramtha Huzcnai in the National Archaeological Museum of Florence. Multiple chapters address such subjects as its figural style, painterly technique, and center of production. Connections with painting traditions in Magna Graecia are drawn, and the authors entertain the possibility that the painting was executed in a Tarquinian workshop.
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Vase Painting in Relationship to Monumental Painting: The South Italian and Sicilian Polychrome Tempera Technique

South Italian vases, a longtime staple of the antiquities market, are undergoing major scholarly reassessment that involves refinement of chronology and reassignment to regional schools on the basis of newly acquired archaeological evidence. The bibliography is large and growing in the interval since the death of A. D. Trendall in 1995 (the so-called era del dopo Trendall). Of particular relevance to monumental paintings are the 3rd-century ateliers working in polychrome tempera technique executed after firing (ceramica sovradipinta). The style is conventionally associated with Canosa in Apulia and Sicilian Centuripe and Lipari, where painters created something suggestive of paintings on vases, in recognition of what some scholars have seen as their attempts to reproduce effects of wall or panel painting. Barresi 2014 and Denoyelle and Iozzo 2009 address issues of current interest. The subject warrants further study.

Barresi, Sebastiano. 2014. Sicilian red-figure vase-painting: The beginning, the end. In The regional production of red-figure pottery: Greece, Magna Graecia and Etruria. Edited by Stine Schierup and Victoria Sabetai, 236–246. Gösta Enbom Monographs 4. Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus Univ. Press.
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The author summarizes directions of the current reappraisal, including chronological considerations and workshop attributions. Of particular interest in the current context are comments on the relationship to monumental painting, as well as to interconnections with polychrome wares not only in the West but also among Attic Kerch wares.
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Denoyelle, Martine, and Mario Iozzo. 2009. La céramique grecque d’Italie mériodionale et de Sicile: Productions coloniales et apparentées du VIIIe au IIIe siècle av. J.-C. Manuels d’Art et d’Archéologie Antiques 4. Paris: Picard.
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Well-illustrated synthesis of Greek ceramic production throughout Italy and Sicily. Chapter 10 ends with a brief overview of polychrome tempera wares, and issues of interrelationships and chronology.
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Excursus: Roman Paintings and Mosaics in Greek Mode

Study of Roman paintings and literary texts in search of Greek masterpieces (the traditional scholarly method known as Meisterforschung) long dominated scholarly approaches to ancient painting. The discovery of Greek originals since the 1960s has definitively changed scholarly discourse by bringing Greek and Roman painting face to face. A selection of early-21st-century studies on Roman paintings that deal sensitively with issues of Greek antecedents include Baldassarre, et al. 2002 and Pappalardo 2008. Two of the most prominent Roman monuments traditionally thought to rely on Greek prototypes are the megalographic cycle from the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale and the Alexander Mosaic from Pompeii. They are included here as case studies even as debate continues.

Baldassarre, Ida, Angela Pontrandolfo, Agnès Rouveret, and Monica Salvadori, eds. 2002. Pittura romana: Dall’ellenismo al tardo-antico. Translated by Danièle Robert. Milan: Federico Motta.
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Also published in 2003 as La peinture romaine: De l’époque hellénistique à l’antiquité tardive. Handsome treatment in a lavishly illustrated volume in coffee-table format that begins with Hellenistic precedents in Macedonia and Thrace and ends with late Imperial material of the 3rd and 4th centuries CE. Though lacking footnotes, bibliographies are collected according to chapter at the end of the book.
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Pappalardo, Umberto. 2008. The splendor of Roman wall painting. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum.
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Beautifully produced volume with handsome illustrations that covers Roman painting from its early beginnings, with short chapters devoted to many of the most prominent monuments, including those thought to have Greek antecedents.
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Boscoreale: The Villa of P. Fannius Synistor

Discussions of Greek antecedents of the late Second Style villa, conventionally associated with the name of one of its ancient owners, focus on the megalographic series from Room H. Barnabei 1901 provides indispensable records of the private excavation and commercial dispersal of its murals at the time. Bergmann, et al. 2010 offers a solid introduction to the material. Barbet and Verbanck-Piérard 2013 analyzes all aspects of the villa and pronounces what is currently the last word. Many scholars accept a Macedonian or Ptolemaic source for the cycle. Indeed, Palagia 2014 advocates direct copies of figures from diverse Macedonian tombs. Pfrommer 1993 and Smith 1994 are among those studies that seek historical-allegorical meaning but from different points of view.

Barbet, Alix, and Annie Verbanck-Piérard, eds. 2013. La villa romaine de Boscoreale et ses fresques. Vol. 2, Actes du colloque international organisé du 21 au 23 avril 2010 aux Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire de Bruxelles et au Musée Royal de Mariemont. Arles, France: Éditions Errance.
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Definitive publication by an international team of specialists writing in French, Italian, and English that touches on all aspects of the villa, including technical matters and interpretation of the remains, while referencing an enormous relevant bibliography. This will now be the standard, though interpretation of its paintings is destined to remain controversial.
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Barnabei, Felice. 1901. La villa pompeiana di P. Fannio Sinistore scoperta presso Boscoreale: Relazione a S.E. il Ministro dell’istruzione pubblica con una memoria. Rome: Tipografia della Reale Accademia dei Lincei.
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Illustrated contemporaneous report on unauthorized excavations that uncovered the villa (1899–1902). Many wall paintings were removed, and whereas a few stayed in Italy, large segments were sold at auction in Paris. The main parts of the megalographic series are divided between the Naples National Archaeological Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Important in scholarly research.
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Bergmann, Bettina, Stefano De Caro, Joan R. Mertens, and Rudolf Meyer. 2010. Roman frescoes from Boscoreale: The Villa of Publius Fannius Synistor in reality and virtual reality. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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A compact but highly informative overview of the history of the murals, including discussion of the paintings in their original context, issues of conservation, and the introduction of a computer model of the villa with all its known frescoes. A good starting point.
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Palagia, Olga. 2014. The frescoes from the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor in Boscoreale as reflections of Macedonian funerary paintings of the early Hellenistic period. Paper presented at an international conference held 25–27 September 2008 in Brussels and Leuven, Belgium. In The age of the successors and the creation of the Hellenistic kingdoms (323–276 B.C.). Edited by Hans Hauben and Alexander Meeus, 207–231. Studia Hellenistica 53. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters.
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The author argues provocatively that the cycle, rather than forming a unified theme based on some Hellenistic source, is composed of individual figures that were copied from different Macedonian tomb paintings, a theory not widely shared.
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Pfrommer, Michael. 1993. Göttliche Fürsten in Boscoreale: Der Festsaal in der Villa des P. Fannius Synistor. Trierer Winckelmannsprogramme 12. Mainz, Germany: Philipp von Zabern.
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The author, in a very precise study, sees the paintings as forming a single ideological program in the historico-allegorical mode. Novel is his assigning of the original painting to the Ptolemaic court, specifically to the last years of Antony and Cleopatra, an approach that extends to identifying Ptolemaic portraits on the Roman walls, a view that has not found wide acceptance.
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Smith, Robert R. R. 1994. Spear-won land at Boscoreale: On the royal paintings of a Roman villa. Journal of Roman Archaeology 7:100–128.
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The author sees two main themes in the royal cycle—eastern conquest and dynastic marriage—and concludes that “the frieze is historical, certainly Macedonian, and probably Antigonid” (p. 125).
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The Alexander Mosaic

The Alexander Mosaic from the House of the Faun, Pompeii VI 12.2, now in the Naples National Archaeological Museum with a modern copy in Pompeii, is undoubtedly the most famous mosaic in the ancient world. Archaeologists and historians have written at length since the mid-19th century about this artifact, usually thought to copy a painting, which by common agreement shows Alexander the Great fighting the Persian Great King Darius III. Scholarly debate concerns the identity of the putative painter, the date and place where the original was created, and the meaning it conveyed. Among discussions since the late 20th century are Moreno 2001, which favors a depiction of the Battle of Gaugamela with Apelles as artist; Stewart 1993, which champions the Battle of Issos by an unknown painter; Pfrommer 1998, which provocatively analyzes the realia and opts for a prototype created around 200 BCE; and Cohen 1997, which argues for a palimpsest of battles. Briant 2015 takes a quite different approach in focusing on the role of Darius and emphasizing the limited historical value of the mosaic.

Briant, Pierre. 2015. Freeze-frame: Darius in the Naples Mosaic. In Darius in the shadow of Alexander. By Pierre Briant, 181–195. Translated by Jane Marie Todd. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.
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First published in 2003 as Darius dans l’ombre d’Alexandre and here scarcely modified, an Achaemenid historian and Alexander scholar weighs the image of Darius historically and iconographically. With regard to the Alexander Mosaic he concludes that the representation “has a limited narrative and documentary value” (p. 195).
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Cohen, Ada. 1997. The Alexander Mosaic: Stories of victory and defeat. Cambridge Studies in Classical Art and Iconography. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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The author argues cogently for a palimpsest of Alexander battles. In a thoughtful text, full consideration is given to content, narrative structure, historicity, and authorship while invoking modern critical theory. Roman context is also addressed in considering possible meanings to the Roman viewer. In sum, the author finds the mosaic’s version of history to be “a paradigmatic and economical enactment of hierarchy and an interplay of status” (p. 201).
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Moreno, Paolo. 2001. Apelles: The Alexander Mosaic. Translated by David Stanton. Milan: Skira.
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English translation of Apelle: La battaglia di Alessandro, published in 2000. Beautifully illustrated to include antecedents and comparanda. The author believes the mosaic shows the Battle of Gaugamela, and he firmly attributes the original to Apelles.
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Pfrommer, Michael. 1998. Untersuchungen zur Chronologie und Komposition des Alexandermosaiks auf antiquarischer Grundlage. Aegyptiaca Treverensia 8. Mainz, Germany: Philipp von Zabern.
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The author analyzes the mosaic in minute detail, focusing on armor, weapons, and other realia, for which he confidently finds parallels over several generations. Arguing in favor of the Battle of Issos, he concludes that the painted prototype dates to c. 200 BCE and derives, presumably, from the Ptolemaic court.
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Stewart, Andrew. 1993. The Alexander Mosaic: A reading. In Faces of power: Alexander’s image and Hellenistic politics. By Andrew Stewart, 130–157. Hellenistic Culture and Society 11. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
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A full summary of historical and art-historical points, including “Apulian echoes” (pp. 150–157). The author argues that the mosaic depicts the Battle of Issos and was painted shortly after the event by an unknown painter who deliberately produced a didactic work aimed at the successor kings. Recommended reading as a starting point.
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