{"id":50,"date":"2017-04-21T14:59:24","date_gmt":"2017-04-21T14:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/romancultureofbird\/?page_id=50"},"modified":"2017-05-01T19:51:35","modified_gmt":"2017-05-01T19:51:35","slug":"villa-of-livia-at-primaporta","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/romancultureofbird\/murals\/villa-of-livia-at-primaporta\/","title":{"rendered":"Villa of Livia at Prima Porta"},"content":{"rendered":"

Livia\u2019s garden wall paintings, consist of \u201chyper-realistic\u201d depictions of the synchronized blooming of flora, despite these plants having different blooming times during the year.1<\/a><\/sup> In this way, many of the plants, and perhaps the birds, \u201cmust\u201d be based on sketches.2<\/a><\/sup> This artistic strategy creates an eternal and unchanging image of Spring and Summer \u201cbeyond nature\u201d and time.3<\/a><\/sup> All identifications from Gabriel and Jashemski:<\/p>\n

\"Untitled
Fig 4.1. Image of wall of the Garden Room at the Villa of Livia with bird species identification. Robert Vanderlinden.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Fig 4.2. Engraving of whole Panel 5, with black-boxed portion referring to colored-image above. Gabriel, Plate 25.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The blackbird would have been a year-round resident of the gardens in southern Italy.4<\/a><\/sup> Similarly, the Jay and Black-eared wheatear would have inhabited southern Europe in the Summer, in wooded areas in the hills or flatlands.5<\/a><\/sup> Redstarts would pursue gardens and woodland in Campania during the Summer for breeding.6<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

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Along the bottom gate of the fresco is a pheasant or a partridge. Again, pheasants were easy to keep in captivity and though they originate from the Caucasus, their entry into Europe was noted by Aristophanes in his Birds.<\/em>7<\/a><\/sup> Other sources state that the pheasant was \u201cimported from Colchis, the land of the River Phasis\u2026[and] had been known as rarities in Greece since the fifth century.\u201d8<\/a><\/sup> It is possible that the bird shown in Rome in A.D. 47 or 48 as a phoenix was a golden pheasant.9<\/a><\/sup> Furthermore, if a partridge, this bird would have been a common species in Rome as a domestic bird, similar in function to the pheasant and quail.10<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

\"Untitled
Fig 5. A corresponding wall at the House of Livia’s Garden Room with species identification. Robert Vanderlinden.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In conclusion, both analyzed scenes are plausible based on the migratory patterns of these bird species, with the exception of the thrush. The only questionable factor, therefore, is whether all these birds would exist in the garden at the same time, and with what frequency. Knowing that these species prefer a wide-range of environments, I find it unlikely that all depicted birds would exist often within the garden unless artificially introduced, if kept in aviaries or bird cages at the villa.<\/p>\n

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  1. \u00a0Gabriel, Mabel. M. Livia\u2019s Garden Room at Prima Porta. Washington Square, NY: New York\u00a0University Press, 1955:\u00a011. ↵<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n
  2. \u00a0Gabriel, Mabel. M. Livia\u2019s Garden Room at Prima Porta. Washington Square, NY: New York\u00a0University Press, 1955:\u00a011. ↵<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n
  3. \u00a0Jones, Frederick M.A. \u201cThe Caged Bird in Roman Life and Poetry; Metaphor, Cognition, and\u00a0Value.\u201d Syllecta Classica, 24 (2013): 113. ↵<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n
  4. \u00a0Jashemski, Wilheima. \u201cBirds: Evidence from wall paintings, mosaics, sculpture, skeletal\u00a0remains, and ancient authors.\u201d The Natural History of Pompeii, 357-400. Cambridge,\u00a0UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002:\u00a0398. ↵<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n
  5. \u00a0Jashemski, Wilheima. \u201cBirds: Evidence from wall paintings, mosaics, sculpture, skeletal\u00a0remains, and ancient authors.\u201d The Natural History of Pompeii, 357-400. Cambridge,\u00a0UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002: 385. ↵<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n
  6. \u00a0Jashemski, Wilheima. \u201cBirds: Evidence from wall paintings, mosaics, sculpture, skeletal\u00a0remains, and ancient authors.\u201d The Natural History of Pompeii, 357-400. Cambridge,\u00a0UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002: 390. ↵<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n
  7. \u00a0Jashemski, Wilheima. \u201cBirds: Evidence from wall paintings, mosaics, sculpture, skeletal\u00a0remains, and ancient authors.\u201d The Natural History of Pompeii, 357-400. Cambridge,\u00a0UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002: 390. ↵<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n
  8. \u00a0Jennison, George. \u201cAmateur\u2019s Menagerie. Birds.\u201d Animals for Show and Pleasure in Ancient\u00a0Rome. Pennsylvania, US: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005:\u00a0109. ↵<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n
  9. \u00a0Jennison, George. \u201cAmateur\u2019s Menagerie. Birds.\u201d Animals for Show and Pleasure in Ancient\u00a0Rome. Pennsylvania, US: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005:\u00a0109. ↵<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n
  10. \u00a0Jashemski, Wilheima. \u201cBirds: Evidence from wall paintings, mosaics, sculpture, skeletal\u00a0remains, and ancient authors.\u201d The Natural History of Pompeii, 357-400. Cambridge,\u00a0UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002: 376. ↵<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Livia\u2019s garden wall paintings, consist of \u201chyper-realistic\u201d depictions of the synchronized blooming of flora, despite these plants having different blooming times during the year.1 In…<\/p>\n

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