Detail from a Garden Painting, House of the Golden Bracelet, Pompeii, Italy (fresco)

The fresco portrays an imaginary garden (paradeisos) with birds flying or perching and tragedy masks over a background of blue sky. The vegetation and depictions of garden ornaments served as a backdrop for a real formal garden and outdoor triclinium. The birds and plants depicted in this fresco are characteristic of ancient Roman gardens and carry symbolic associations. They include wood pigeon, turtledove, black-billed magpie, sparrow and golden oriole. Among the plants can be found oleander, plane tree, date palm, rose, strawberry tree, chamomile, chrysanthemum and common ivy. There is also a herm with the bust of a satyr. The archaeological site of Pompeii was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997. Photographed in 2007.