La pittura funeraria in Cirenaica

Few years after the Avenche congress a synthesis on the Cyrenaica funerary wall-paintings was published by L. Bacchielli in Libyan Studies (1993). It was the first focus concerning the Cyrenaica painted tombs known until that time, some of which reproduced by engravings and water-colours since the 19th century. After the premature dead of the scholar, new investigations permitted to better document these contexts and to discover others. This paper offers a new synthesis of the today’s knowledge on Greek, Roman, and Late Antique funerary wall-paintings in Cyrenaica, from the Middle Hellenism to the Late Antique. Many questions remain open because of the chronological gaps, poor conservation of the paintings, peculiarities of the decorative systems, differences of techniques and formal languages. Nevertheless, the Cyrenaica painted tombs confirm to be one of the more relevant evidences for the ancient painting in the Mediterranean basin, and even more in North African.