A Roman Art Lover

Alma-Tadema painted this scene of a Roman art collector in 1868, early in his career, before he moved from Antwerp to London. He was thirty-one, recently married, and building the reputation that would make him one of the most successful painters of Victorian England. A Roman man sits in a sculptor's workshop, examining a small bronze statue. He holds the figure up to the light, turning it in his hand. The sculptor stands behind him, watching. The workshop is filled with other objects: marble busts, terracotta figures, architectural fragments. The walls are painted in the Pompeiian style, with red panels and decorative borders. The floor is a mosaic of geometric patterns. Through an opening at the right, a glimpse of a Roman street is visible, with a figure walking past. Alma-Tadema was born in the Netherlands in 1836 and trained in Antwerp. He moved to London in 1870, after the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, and he spent the rest of his career there. His paintings of ancient Roman and Greek life were enormously popular in Victorian England. He was known for his archaeological accuracy: every detail of furniture, clothing, and architecture in his paintings was based on specific ancient sources. The painting reflects the Victorian fascination with classical antiquity, which was fueled by archaeological discoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum. The Roman art lover in the painting is a stand-in for the Victorian collector, who saw himself as the heir to Roman taste. Alma-Tadema painted several versions of this subject, exploring the relationship between the collector and the artist. Oil on canvas, 71 by 122 centimeters, roughly 28 by 48 inches. Alma-Tadema used a smooth, almost photographic technique, building the surfaces of the marble and bronze with thin layers of paint. The light is even and diffuse, the way it would fall through a Roman atrium. The details of the mosaic floor and the wall paintings are rendered with archaeological precision. This print works in a study or library, where the subject of classical art and collecting suits the mood. The warm reds and browns of the Roman interior pair with leather bindings, wood shelving, and brass desk accessories. The 18x24 size gives the architectural details enough room to read. The 16x20 framed version also works in a smaller space. The painting is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.