Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1836 - 1912
Born in the Netherlands, Alma-Tadema settled in England in 1870 where he became a highly successful (probably the most successful, not to mention enormously prolific) Victorian painter, befriending most of England's Pre-Raphaelite painters. His paintings tend to cover classical or historical subjects, with the decadence of the Roman Empire becoming a favourite theme after a honeymoon visit to Italy in 1863. He also painted portraits, landscapes and watercolours.
Incidentally the Dutch name Tadema means Adamson in English. Alma was his second Christian name but he changed his surname to Alma Tadema whilst living in England so that his name would appear at the top under the As in exhibition catalogues!
Read more about Alma-Tadema at Wikipedia.
Spring, (1894), oil on canvas,179.2 x 80.3 cm (Detail)
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
This painting depicts the festival of Cerealia in a Roman street. Cerealia was a 7 day festival of ancient Rome to honour the goddess Ceres and occurred sometime in April.
See a large image of this painting at Wikipedia.
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