Scenes from the Painted Garden, from the Villa of Livia at Prima Porta, c.30-20 BCE, fresco
Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Massimo, Rome, Italy
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Unknown Scenes from the Painted Garden, from the Villa of Livia at Prima Porta, c.30-20 BCE, fresco Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Massimo, Rome, Italy After the painted Odyssey cycle of our last entry, I was reminded of these beautiful paintings – perhaps my favourite of all from Rome, and coming a close second in the ancient world to the Thera landscapes. They originally covered the walls of the triclinium or dining-room of Livia, wife of Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. Though they're certainly aesthetically pleasing, it's their attention to botanical detail which I enjoy most. Each tree and plant species is painted with such care that they are identifiable, even now – you might be able to spot apples, lemons, daisies, roses, as well as bay laurel and maple trees. The illusion of a garden has been continued with the painting of a wall and fence around the allotment and the blue sky behind, populated by birds – as if the walls of the dining room have melted away and been replaced by a lush, continuously-blooming garden.
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AuthorEmily Hauser is a classicist and researcher at Harvard and author of historical fiction recovering the lost women of the ancient world, including FOR THE MOST BEAUTIFUL and FOR THE WINNER. Archives
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