A Venus with the face of Juno, so the poet Ovid described her. In the numerous statues depicting her, she has no jewels or finely embellished garments, because her charm and beauty were enough to capture the attention of the artist portraying her.
This beautiful woman is Livia Drusilla Claudia, competed-for, admired and loved first by Tiberius Claudius Nero and then by the Emperor Octavianus Augustus. And what better day to remember her than March 8, Women’s Day.
She is not to be celebrated so much for her beauty as she is for her strength and courage. Proud, composed, serious too when struck by the tragedy of the loss of her son Drusus. Heroic when she stepped out of the “role of a patrician woman” to put out two fires in which she found herself accidentally involved. For this the people loved her. Indeed, no empress was more loved by the people than her, and after her death she was also deified. She was the only woman, during the age of the Roman Empire, to have power over the decisions of her husband, who turned to her for council. She was a true empress and the Romans looked to her when petitioning Augustus. Livia represented the only case, in the history of Rome, of a wife being adopted by her husband so that she could become part of the Giulii gens patrizia, thus guaranteeing her a third of Augustus’ patrimony and the title of “Augusta”.
What better symbol, therefore, to celebrate women on March 8th, if not the everlasting figure of Empress Livia.
To pay homage to this figure, learn more about her and better appreciate her, a visit to the “Casa di Livia” built on the Palatine Hill is in order. It could be the right choice for a trip dedicated to Women’s Day.
The Casa di Livia still retains the original access with a sloping mosaic corridor with a white background and isolated black tiles, regularly arranged. From here you can access a courtyard overlooked by three rooms embellished with splendid second-style wall paintings, with mythological and genre scenes, landscapes and perspective architectures with characters.
A rich and evocative series of frescoes covers the walls. The Tablinum, the main room together with the Triclinium that enclosed the sequence of most interesting paintings, is very striking. The still legible frescoes show a low podium surmounted by a series of columns that tripartition the wall and support a false coffered ceiling that opens the perspective, creating the illusion of three dimensions.
On the entrance wall, instead, was a depiction of the myth of Polyphemus and Galatea, today unfortunately almost completed vanished.
To the sides of the central paintings, other false openings show views of fantastic architectures and imaginary landscapes, while the false architectures are embellished with decorative motifs such as sphinxes, winged figures and chandeliers.
In the adjoining room, the simplest but no less impressive decoration shows the wall covered with festoons and garlands with fruit, framed by a similar series of columns and architectural elements.
A framed frieze runs along the entire top of the wall: the sketch-like technique and use of highlighting give movement and liveliness to the sequence of Egyptian subjects.
… have a good visit and happy March 8th.