Episodes from a Tacuinum Sanitatis - Love scene under a dill tree

Tacuina sanitatis were treatises on topics of medicine or health and were widely read in the Middle ages. These manuals gave information and advice about food products, medicines and anything else that might pertain to human health. The three fresco fragments seen here translate the contents of such a manual into a pictorial wall decoration. These frescoes are rare examples of decorations from private homes illustrating domestic subjects and would have decorated rooms reserved for family use rather than reception rooms.

The first shows a couple of lovers kissing under a tree, while the text describes the medicinal properties of dill.