File:Wild animals fresco in the peristyle garden of the House of the Ceii, Pompeii.jpg

English: Recently restored, this 'predator and prey' wild animals fresco on the back wall of the peristyle garden of the House of the Ceii in Pompeii is nearly two stories tall. Romans regularly painted outdoor scenes and landscapes to create the illusion of an expanded space. But this isn't a romantic rural idyll - it's tooth and claw, with big cats attacking both domestic and wild animals. Egyptianized landscapes with pygmies, rural shrines, boats, and crocodiles populate the side walls. Of note are the two marble sphinx fountains in the bottom corners of this scene. The Egyptian elements perhaps link the owner of this domus to the cult of Isis, which was very widespread in the last years of the city. The House of the Ceii is one of the rare examples of ancient dwellings in the late-Samnite period (2nd century BCE) in Pompeii. Based on an electoral inscription painted on the façade, the house probably belonged to the magistrate Lucius Ceius Secundus.