A Roman painted fresco fragment

A Roman painted fresco fragment.

Roman, circa 15 BC - AD 50.

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 - 80s.
Christie'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.

Published

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.

Exhibited

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.

Dimensions

Price on application

This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance