Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
ADJUNCT MODULE A: ITALIAN ART
Preferred Title:
Villa of Livia; Garden Fresco Room
Image View:
Detail, painted stone wall creating a niche around a central tree; each wall has this at center
Creator:
unknown (Roman (ancient))
Location:
repository: Museo Nazionale Romano (Rome, Lazio, Italy)
Location Note:
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme; largo di Villa Peretti, 1
GPS:
41.901403 12.498216
Date:
ca. 30-20 BCE (creation)
Cultural Context:
Roman (ancient)
Style Period:
Imperial (Roman); Second Style
Work Type 1:
fresco (painting)
Classification:
painting
Material:
pigment on plaster; decorated stuccowork
Technique:
fresco painting (technique)
Measurements:
19 ft (width, room)
Description:
The Villa of Livia, (Livia Drusilla, later Julia Augusta) the wife of Augustus, is located at Prima Porta on the Via Flaminia. It was probably part of the dowry she brought to the Julio-Claudian dynasty. The site was rediscovered and explored as early as 1596, but it was not recognized as the Villa of Livia until the 19th century. The frescoes of a semi-subterranean chamber, probably a cool triclinium (dining room) for summer banquets, discovered in 1863 and dating back to the late 1st century BCE, show a luscious garden with ornamental plants and pomegranate trees. Many of the plant and tree species can be identified. These frescoes were removed to Rome. Following cleaning and restoration, they were reinstalled in the Palazzo Massimo in 1998. The vault above the fresco was covered with stucco reliefs of which only a few survive. The garden can be seen in an Augustan light, where the cultivated orderly garden in the foreground and the wild grove beyond symbolize the harmony of the state under a common rule of order and the unpredictable world of nature. (Source: Area Archeology of Rome [website]; http://archeoroma.be niculturali.it/en/)
Collection:
Adjunct Module A: Italian Art
Identifier:
7A3-R-PM-VLGP-B03
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.

Villa of Livia; Garden Fresco Room