The lovers' wall is painted in secret and underground Assisi.
It is located exactly in the cryptoporticus of the so-called house of Propertius, under the current Sanctuary of Despoilment.
It dates back to the time of the Roman Empire - 1st century AD - and was built by the same poet Sesto Properzio whose birthplace the city of San Francesco boasts.
ANSA, on the occasion of Valentine's Day, visited it using the story of the museum operator Beatrice Camilli.
"It is a viridarium - says the expert - a sort of window open onto a garden in which 96 little birds are depicted, all different from each other, which are among branches that twirl in thin air, with leaves or flower petals in the shape of little hearts".
"We can certainly call it the wall of love, both for the painted hearts and for the proper name of Propertius who is this elegiac poet who in his works speaks of his dispassionate love for Cynthia, the woman who sometimes denies herself and sometimes gives herself", explains Camilli.
"It is a special work that can be dedicated to all lovers on Valentine's Day, who ideally can exchange this wall", says the operator.
In the detail he points out how on one side, in addition to the birds and the heart-shaped leaves, three lilies have also been depicted: "Usually the white lily is often linked to the annunciation, these red ones suggest that they were painted with more of a love theme" , the guide continues.
A few meters from the viridarium there are other "romantic" paintings, Camilli highlights one in particular: "It is a pinax, a small painting, with the myth of Polyphemus and Galatea".
"The original Greek myth, like all myths, is quite bloody and tragic - concludes the expert - Here Propertius, however, tells it in a lighter way, that is, Galatea, a sea nymph, remains fascinated by the song of Polyphemus, the giant with one eye only, and reciprocates its love".
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