Vatican Museums

The fresco, from the Augustan age, was detached immediately after its discovery in Rome, on the Esquiline Hill, near the now-defunct church of St. Julian the Hospitaller (Piazza Vittorio) in 1601. Previously part of the collection of Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini, it was acquired by Pius VII in 1818 and placed in its current location in 1838, lending its name to the room.
Possibly originally part of the upper frieze of a wall decoration, it appears to represent a generic wedding scene: in the centre, a goddess (Aphrodite?) consoles the bride, in the throes of virginal anxiety, before the arrival of her husband in the bridal chamber; next to them, a goddess (Peitho?), leaning against a pillar, pours fragrant essences into a shell. The god Hymen (or the groom) is depicted on the threshold. To the right, there is the scene of a sacrifice and to the left, what appears to be a ritual scene. There are other theories regarding the painting’s mythological, historical and literary references.