3-035-811 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Fresco Depicting a Woman (Maenad?) Holding a Dish; Peacock and Fruit Below, A.D. 1-79. Additional Info: One of two colourful fresco fragments that once decorated the same wall. A draped female figure holds a metal dish, standing within an arbor. In keeping with the theme of the two frescoes, she may be identified as a maenad - a follower of the wine god Bacchus. In a separate scene underneath her are pieces of fruit on either side of a peacock, an exotic bird kept in the gardens of wealthy Romans. The fruit includes a bunch of grapes and pomegranates - symbols of fertility and rebirth. The bright red border framing both the figure and the scene below has a rectangular panel with stucco imitation (white silhouettes on a blue background) inserted along the top. Parts of the white background of the wall are visible. This fresco likely decorated a room in a Roman villa.