Credibility of Birds in Murals coexisting and Fourth -Dimensional Qualities of the Villa

To explore this possibility further, I will look at murals of the triclinium of the House of the Golden Bracelet and The Villa of Livia’s garden room at Prima Porta for evidence of bird-type and bird diversity at the villa. Similarly, taking mainly avian species into account over plant species, I will explore the plausibility of these constructed murals and the purposes in creating naturally-illogical scenes.

Diversity and Plausibility

An investigation into the diversity of identifiable bird type representation in Romano-Campanian floor mosaics showed that, of 67 mosaics collected, there were some birds that were substantially more prevalent than others.¹ Three birds were most widely distributed amongst the mosaics. 15-21% of mosaics included depictions of Mallard ducks,² also referred to at times as types-of-geese.³ Feral Pigeons were shown in 12-19% of mosaics, and Domestic fowl were depicted in 10-12% of mosaics.⁴ Though these avian depictions are both Greek and of a different medium than wall paintings, which I will investigate below, these statistics still hold substance. They may well reflect, amongst other Greek-Roman influences, bird diversity of Roman murals.

Wood pigeon 

This species is identified by a “white neck patch and the white on the wing.”⁵ Wood pigeon were said to have been raised and bred with domestic doves as profit birds.⁶ These birds were common throughout Europe, though special treatment differed greatly by regional and national culture.⁷

Rock dove

Domestic pigeons of varying colors were kept and depicted in wall paintings.⁸ This bird was a permanent, non-seasonal resident in the South of Italy, and does not migrate in order to breed.⁹ In general, this species breeds in the mountains and returns to lowlands in the winter.¹⁰ This species is the direct ancestor of modern domestic pigeons today.¹¹

Turtledove

The turtledove migrated in large numbers throughout Europe in the Summer, and would have been common at this time in Campanian gardens.¹² These migratory birds were “particularly fat,” perhaps aiding in the creation of recipes involving turtle doves served “with fat.”¹³

Goose/Ducks

The graylag goose was most likely a domestic profit bird and not a pleasure bird. Though having similar guard dog qualities to the peafowl, its conservative plumage perhaps kept it from earning a common household status.¹⁴ Otherwise, they were popular a “table item”
and their plumage was made for bedding.¹⁵

Mallard ducks could perhaps be kept as pets, with many subjects of sculpture being children holding ducks.¹⁶ Intructions were given by Columella on building sustainable aquatic-aviaries for the keeping of ducks, some species of which were migratory and some of which were not.¹⁷

Peafowl (Audio Warning)

The peacock was considered the “most beautiful of birds by Varro…, Columella…, and Cicero…”¹⁸ This bird is native to mountain forests of Southeast Asia, and yet the temple of Hera in Samos was considered the original home of the peacock in Greece. It was introduced to cities across Greece, and was additionally introduced to Babylon. And still, it is believed that the peacock was introduced independently of these events to Rome.¹⁹ As pleasure animals, peacocks would have free range of the villa, “roosting on housetops and ringing calls…,” these animals were considered “watchdogs.”²⁰ These animals resided year-round at the villa, and could withstand the cold of winter, even in central Europe.²¹