Since the time of their excavation, viewers have observed that these frescoes are astonishingly lifelike. This grove is said to have supplied the laurel for following emperors’ triumphal wreaths, and there seems to be evidence that there was actually a laurel grove at the site where these frescoes were found. A legend of the time told that Livia was at her villa when an eagle dropped a white chick carrying a laurel sprig in her lap, which grew into a brood of hens and a laurel grove, respectively. It dates to about 20 BC, and scholars are confident that it was hers because the laurels plentifully represented on the walls reflect the importance of laurels not only in the iconography of her husband’s reign, but also in the mythology surrounding Livia herself. This lush gardenscape, a series of frescoes on plaster, adorned the walls of a triclinium in a villa that belonged to Livia, wife of Octavian Augustus. Although thousands of years separate the gardenscapes from their original context, this effect would likely have been the same for the original viewers, albeit for different reasons. Several of my classmates approached me afterward with the comment that they had never seen anything like these wall paintings. Tiny timeline: ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia in a global context, 2nd–1st millennia B.C.E.Although our class merely walked through an open doorway into the room that now holds the gardenscapes of the Villa of Livia, rather than descending a staircase to enter the subterranean dining room they originally occupied, the work’s effect was still one of transportation and collective amazement.Tiny timeline: ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia in a global context, 5th–3rd millennia B.C.E.Elena FitzPatrick Sifford on casta paintings Reframing Art History, a new kind of textbook.Not your grandfather’s art history: a BIPOC Reader. With 503 contributors from 201 colleges, universities, museums, and researchĬenters, Smarthistory is the most-visited art history resource in the world. We believe that the brilliant histories of art belong to everyone, no matter their background. At Smarthistory, the Center for Public Art History, we believe art has the power to transform lives and to build understanding across cultures.
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