Summer – Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1879

“The Seasons: A Roman Idyll – Summer” (also known as “The Yellow of Brass / A Roman Bath”). Steel engraving made in 1879 by Auguste Blanchard after the painting (Opus CLXXV) by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Signed in pencil by both Blanchard and Alma-Tadema. Coloured by a later hand. Image size: 33 × 13.5 cm (frame: 59 × 37 cm).

Here we see one of Alma-Tadema’s characteristic Roman bath scenes. With a touch of Victorian playfulness, a nipple peeks just above the surface of the water. Otherwise, all is as it should be: a gleaming polished brass bath rim, elegant frescoes on the wall, rose petals floating in the water, a coloured ostrich feather for fanning cool air, and a balneatrix (attendant) who, in the warmth of summer, has momentarily closed her eyes.

The painting on which this engraving is based has, over the past century, been so poorly cleaned, restored, and overpainted that it is now considered lost.

Price: Euro 1.650,- (incl. frame)