Lourens Alma Tadema

Alma Tadema was fascinated by Egyptian and late Roman antiquity. In museums and on the basis of photographs and books he studied historical objects and buildings, which he depicted with great veracity. From the sarcophagus and the columns with capitals to the sphinx in the background, all the details are correct.

The Friesland-born Alma Tadema settled in London in 1870. He was a beloved member of the British society, assumed English nationality and was even knighted. He also changed his first name to Lawrence, and spelled his family name as Alma-Tadema.

Human sentiment is central in Alma Tadema’s paintings. The recognizability of the emotions portrayed bridges the gulf between the distant past and the present. The Death of the Pharaoh’s Firstborn Son presents the biblical story as a universally understood image of deep mourning for a child who died prematurely.

Alma Tadema was able to realistically render texture and materials by using fine brushstrokes. From a beautiful golden earring to soft women’s skin, whatever the artist painted was convincing.

Alma Tadema was a virtuoso in the lifelike rendering of materials. He enjoyed painting marble the most, which seems almost transparent in the warm, Mediterranean light.

Alma Tadema travelled more than once to places where excavations had taken place, such as Rome and Pompeii. Subjects from classical antiquity were very fashionable at that time thanks to the revived interest in archaeology, a trend he cleverly took advantage of.

With his paintings, Alma Tadema was a director of sorts constantly presenting his audience with a different stage design. The scenes he depicted look like tableaux from plays. It is therefore hardly surprising that his pictures served as inspiration for the first filmmakers.

For Alma Tadema, the frame was important for the presentation of a painting. This frame of his own design is decorated with contiguous geometric motifs in Egyptian style. By matching the ornamentation of the frame to the subject of the painting, the artist created a unified artistic entity.

Alma Tadema was not only exceedingly popular with the Victorian high society in England, but wealthy Americans also commissioned works by him. At home in the Netherlands, his successes were closely followed; every exhibition and prize was reported in the newspapers.

Alma Tadema learned the rudiments of his craft from his cousin, the marine painter Hendrik Willem Mesdag. His second wife Laura Theresa Epps was also a celebrated painter. And both his daughters achieved artistic success: Laurence in literature and Anna, the youngest, in painting.