Roman
A Roman polychrome wall painting fresco fragment of a bird, circa 15 BC - AD 50
Fresco
Dimensions of fresco: 10 cm x 10.7 cm
On black ground, depicting a heron or crane to the left with head turned back, green leaves below, mounted in cream grout and framed for hanging.
On black ground, depicting a heron or crane to the left with head turned back, green leaves below, mounted in cream grout and framed for hanging.
Provenance
Dr. Leo Mildenberg (1913 - 2001) Collection, Switzerland, acquired in the 1960s - 80sChristie's, London, A Peaceable Kingdom: The Leo Mildenberg Collection of Ancient Animals, 26-27 October 2004, lot 208
Private Collection, Cleveland, Ohio, acquired from the above
Exhibitions
Munich, Prähistorische Staatssammlung; Mannheim, Reiss-Museum; Jerusalem, Bible Lands Museum; Bonn, Akademisches Kunstmuseum; Stendal, Winckelmann-Museum, Out of Noah’s Ark: Animals in Ancient Art from the Leo Mildenberg Collection, 11 October 1996 - 28 June 1999.Literature
Birds were a popular subject for wallpaintings, as purely decorative motifs, as well as perhaps having certain symbolic meanings. Similar examples have been found at Pompeii, as well as in Livia’s villa at Prima Porta.Publications
A. Walker (ed.), Animals in Ancient Art From the Leo Mildenberg Collection: Part III, Mainz, 1996, no. 64.P. Mottahedeh (ed.), Out of Noah's Ark: Animals in Ancient Art from the Leo Mildenberg Collection, Jerusalem, 1996, no. 44.