The Blue Bird is part of the “Monkeys and Birds Fresco” that decorated the walls of a room in the House of the Frescoes, on the west side of the Palace of Knossos. It is one of the three framed scenes which were originally restored from the many fresco fragments found. Continuing study of the fragments has shown that all three scenes formed part of a single fresco composition that ran around the walls of the room in a trompe-l’oeil painting, giving the illusion of three-dimensionality. The Blue Bird is perched on a rock among flowers and plants, next to a stream. It is part of a larger landscape with rocks, rivulets and a wide variety of plants (lilies, crocuses, papyri, myrtle trees and reeds), where monkeys chase birds resembling wild doves and eat their eggs. The fresco is not only decorative but also symbolic, as the natural world played a crucial role in Minoan religion and ritual.