Roses, Love’s Delight – Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1898

“Roses, Love’s Delight,” photogravure made in 1898 by Arthur Tooth & Sons after the painting (Opus CCCXLVIII) by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Coloured by a later hand. Image size: 61 × 26 cm (frame: 96 × 54 cm).

The painting, perhaps Alma-Tadema’s most important work from 1897, became widely known through the heliogravure published a year later. It was purchased by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia during an exhibition of English art held in St. Petersburg in the winter of 1897.

The scene takes place in a Roman bathhouse. In the foreground, a beautiful woman sits at an elaborately carved marble table, embracing the roses scattered across its surface. Beside her, water sparkles from a small fountain; a little further away, balneatrices (bath attendants) decorate the building with garlands of flowers.

Price: SOLD