sacral-idyllic landscape

A term coined by historian Michael Rostovtzeff for a sub-category of ancient Roman landscape painting. Sacral-idyllic landscapes feature images of idealized, pastoral nature and allusions to the worship of Roman gods (altars, temples, shrines).

Sacral-idyllic landscape from the Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase, Italy. Fresco. Last decade of the first century BCE. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.