Peacocks were bred by the Greeks and the Romans and their delicious meat was enjoyed at lavish banquets. Saint Augustine liked to recall having eaten peacock meat, in Carthage, that had been stored for a long time. Because of its meat, considered non-perishable, and due to the belief that the animal shed its feathers to renew them in spring, the peacock was adopted as a symbol of the resurrection of the flesh, of the glorified soul and immortality.
In Ravenna, it is featured in wall and floor mosaics, marble transennas, and sarcophagi. In this mosaic, reproducing a portion of the decoration, the peacock is perched on a lush branch with fruits and leaves against an indigo background. The black enamel tesserae, arranged in curved lines, define its chest, neck and back. Light-blue and blue tesserae form the body. Others, in various tones of greens, render the iridescent feathering of its wings and tail. This features the typical eye-shaped spots, symbol of divine omniscience – surrounded by golden tesserae and with a light￾blue core,they are set in the long green, white, red and orange feathers.