Madara Rider in Baulgaria

Madara Rider in Baulgaria

Short Report

The Madara Rider, representing the figure of a knight triumphing over a lion, is carved into a 100-m-high cliff near the village of Madara in north-east Bulgaria. Madara was the principal sacred place of the First Bulgarian Empire before Bulgaria’s conversion to Christianity in the 9th century. The inscriptions beside the sculpture tell of events that occurred between AD 705 and 801.

Wonderful Universal Importance

The Madara Rider is a unique relief, a particular work of art, made during the first year of the establishment of the Bulgarian State, at the beginning of the 8th century. It is the only relief of its kind, that no parallel in Europe. He survived in authentic condition, without alternation in the past or present.

It is excellent not only as a work of the Bulgarian sculpture, with its characteristic realistic tendencies, but also as a piece of historical source material dating back to the early years of the establishment of the Bulgarian state. The markings on the relief valve are in fact a chronicle of important events with regard to the where quiet reigns of very famous Khans: Tervel, Kormisos and Omurtag.

Wide Report

The sculptor carved relief of a majestic horseman 23 m above the ground in an almost vertical 100 m high cliff. The rider is a spear into a lion lying on his horse the feet, while a dog is running after the rider. In ancient times the Thracian tribes inhabited the plains. There was an ancient Thracian temple in the large open cave under the rocks and is now known as the Nymphs' Cave. The fort and a large company (villa rustica) flourished at the foot of the cliff for more than three centuries during the Roman times, until it fell into disuse with the collapse of the Roman Empire. The pitch towers of the fortress was rebuilt as the first Bulgarian capital Pliska, was established.

During the difficult times at the end of the 7th century the relationship of the young Bulgarian state and Byzantium was very complex. The Bulgarians won the right to their status in a victorious fight, but Byzantium considered itself a heir of the Roman Empire and never gave up its claim to this territory. If the deposed Byzantine Emperor Justinian asked for help from the Bulgarian Khan Tervel, he had the Bulgarian conditions. The Emperor was re-installed on the throne in Constantinople thanks to the Bulgarian army. These events took place in the year 705: thus, only a quarter of a century after the Bulgarian state, it was not only recognized by but also received appreciation of Byzantium.

The Madara Horseman was carved in the beginning of the 8th century, about three decades after the foundation of the Bulgarian State (681).  The sculpture is a triumph: the Byzantine Empire has recognized that the new state. The exemption is not an abstract symbolic scene but indicates a specific image with a historical background and deep symbolism. The chosen location is such that the convexity of the rock, some parts of the aid to project more than the rest. Other elements of the composition is almost flat because they had to be accommodated in the slope of the stone surface.

The sculptor used three methods for the sculpture of the figures. He outlined the images with a 1.5 cm wide and 2 cm deep groove in the rock (only the lion not surrounded by a groove).  He hewed from the surrounding surface so that the figures project. The third method is to the figures in red plaster so give them even better against the rock. Most of this patch is destroyed by the elements, but some traces are still visible. The letters of the inscriptions were also filled with the same plaster. The sculptor worked carefully on the composition to ensure that the exemption would be clearly visible from a distance. The elements of this handsome composition be organised in a way that does not detract but emphasize the impact.

The sculpture is an original combination of dynamic and static nature of formal gestures and realistic detail. The image is of a specific event but it implies a sense of triumph over the limits of time. However, although this monumental work of art combines the concrete from the abstract, the inscription cut in the left and right side of the composition determined curt, precise and simple information about the event and some of the situation with regard to it. The deep historical meaning of the relief is clarified by the markings on the figures. These inscriptions are made in three consecutive steps and are related to important events. They are the oldest proto-Bulgarian markings and the earliest written information on Bulgarian history.

However these tradition began with the texts on the Madara exemption. These three texts not only mark the beginning of the historic annals but also with regard to the images and the interpretation of the emergency aid, of the victorious scene presented. The existence of a state, the full meaning only via its international recognition and these texts are exactly the events in connection with the international recognition of the state, with the introduction in international relations as a respected partner.

Source:whc/unesco