Frisian-born Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836–1912) was one of England’s most successful 19th-century painters. He was the storyteller of his time, and with his seductive paintings he brought Classical Antiquity to life like no other. His impact was so great that his influence resounds to this day in Hollywood.
alma-tadema, 1881
alma-tadema, 1866
buy the publication with the exhibition 'alma-tadema: classical charm'
Lourens Alma-Tadema’s (1836 – 1912) life began in 1836 in the Frisian village of Dronryp, where he was born into a close-knit family. In 1838 the Tadema family moved to Leeuwarden. Lourens attended art class from a young age, which he greatly enjoyed.
Lourens was expected to become a lawyer like his father, but he chose instead to become a painter.
This was the direction he wanted to take. After three years at the city’s high school and at sixteen years of age, he went to study at the Royal Academy of Arts in Antwerp, known for its famous history painters.
He did not quite finish his education and thought there was more to learn from great masters such as Louis De Taeye and Henri Leys. They taught him that extensive historical research is the most important preparation for a good painting.
In terms of subjects, in his early years Lourens painted all types. The young country Belgium was paying a lot of attention to its own history. Consequently, his first success came with his paintings depicting the early medieval Franks.
Lourens Alma-Tadema found his artistic focus sometime around his 27th birthday. During his honeymoon to Italy in 1863, with his wife Pauline, they explored the cities of Rome, Naples and Pompeii for several months, where large-scale excavations were being carried out. He became obsessed with Classical Antiquity. With his brush he brought this lost world back to life.
He was hooked. From then on Classical Antiquity would be his only subject. During the honeymoon, he sketched the ruins they visited, made drawings of the antique marble furnishings and took measurements of almost everything. These would form the foundation of the works for which he would later become famous.
The perfectionist Tadema approached his subjects like an archaeologist. He assembled a comprehensive library as a source of stories, sketched on location, and collected objects. He ensured that everything was correct down to the last detail: from the hairstyles to the accessories.
He was also successful financially. The influential art dealer Ernest Gambart offered him a lucrative contract for 24 paintings. It turned out so well that Gambart gave him a second major commission. Lourens had it made.
Just when things were going well for Lourens, disaster struck. His wife Pauline died, leaving Lourens to care for their two young daughters. After her death Lawrence stopped painting for a while. He travelled to London to consult a doctor. There he met Laura Theresa Epps, an artistic red-haired girl of 17. He was immediately smitten.
Lawrence soon moved to London with his two young daughters and his sister Artje. He wasted no time and offered to teach Laura how to paint. He asked her to marry him and they did so not long after. Alma-Tadema was 35; Laura was 18. They were very much in love and Laura was becoming his muse.
In London, they moved into a luxurious studio home, where he experimented with its interior decoration. The new family’s richly decorated home was a treasure trove of inspiration. Here, Lourens could experiment to his heart’s content with staging, objects, materials, light and space.
Lourens not only embarked on his new life as ‘Lawrence’; he changed his surname too. By cleverly linking his middle name ‘Alma’ to his surname, he ensured that at exhibitions his name was among the very first in the indexes.
Alma-Tadema ensured that all the members of his new family busied themselves with the arts. Lawrence’s daughters inherited his artistic genes. Anna was a gifted painter and Laurence wrote novels, plays and poems.
His wife Laura was a talented painter too. Her studio was also in the family home. For Lawrence she was not only an exemplary wife, but also a sounding board, model and muse. Like her husband, Laura began numbering each of her paintings with a unique serial number in Roman numerals. This ensures that fake paintings can be recognised immediately.
In London Lawrence Alma-Tadema established himself as one of England’s most successful painters. His works were being exhibited around the world, he was winning all kinds of awards, selling reproductions and even worked as a designer on theatre productions.
Not only his work was internationally known, the painter himself was also becoming more famous. His lively parties were a huge hit among artists, his clients and intellectuals. Journalists came from home and abroad to write about his extravagantly furnished villa.
Alma ‘directed’ his fame with great care. This notary’s son remained first and foremost a networker and a businessman. He forged friendships at parties, tempted potential buyers with reproductions, and made good use of the press to spread his name.
Every two weeks the couple held a Tuesday evening soirée. It was always busy. Sometimes renowned pianists and singers would perform, guests danced merrily and wine flowed. On other occasions, all the guests dressed as Romans, complete with laurel wreaths on their heads.
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Entrance to the Theatre, 1866, oil on canvas, Fries Museum Collection, Leeuwarden
Journalists came from far and wide by to write about his sensational studio home. By this time, Alma-Tadema had moved to a large villa with 66 rooms: Casa Tadema. The painter paid 70,000 pounds for its conversion. It featured Roman mosaic floors, marble columns, silver domes and fairytale vistas.
His travels to Rome were an endless source of inspiration for Alma-Tadema’s outdoor scenes. He transformed the grounds surrounding his home, Casa Tadema, into a Roman garden, with a large pond, a colonnade, a greenhouse and marble basins with carp.
A journalist described the house in 1897 as follows: ‘It is more like an enchanted palace than a London house, [...] as the garden door closes behind you, you feel as if you had stepped into fairyland’.
In 1891, a journalist and an illustrator from the magazine Elsevier’s Geïllustreerd Maandschrift came from the Netherlands to create a ‘studio portrait’ of Alma-Tadema’s home. It served as great promotion and drew the attention of new buyers to his paintings.
Alma-Tadema understood better than anyone the importance of reproductions to his international fame. Along with his art dealer, he published his works as engravings, etchings, lithographs and photographs. This not only provided income, but also ensured that his art was widely distributed.
Famous engravers and etchers such as Auguste Blanchard and Leopold Löwenstam worked regularly with the painter. Alma-Tadema was not an easy client: a notorious perfectionist, he could fly into a rage if the results fell short of his expectations.
Theatre was extremely popular in Victorian England. Because of the increased prestige and better ticket sales, theatres commissioned decors from well-known artists.
Alma-Tadema designed sets, costumes and props for several major theatre productions. He was very hands-on, demonstrating to the actors how they should wear the costumes and deal with the armour.
He was praised for his accuracy, attention to detail and expert use of space. This work for theatres was also a fitting prelude to the world of film, which would continue to use his work later.
Alma-Tadema portrayed his network in his famous ‘Hall of Panels’. He invited his artist friends to contribute. This made it immediately clear in which artistic environment the painter belonged.
In 1899 Alma-Tadema was knighted and from then on he could call himself 'Sir'. He died in 1912 at the age of 76. Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema was buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London with great ceremony. Although appreciation for his work in the art world declined after his death, he remains one of the world's most popular artists.
The work of Alma-Tadema still lives on. His theatrical impressions of Classical Antiquity were a starting point for the earliest epic historical films, and his paintings are still a source of inspiration for Hollywood blockbusters.
Cecil B. DeMille was a true fan of Alma-Tadema’s work. Apparently he showed prints of Alma-Tadema’s work to his team while they were preparing to film The Ten Commandments. The scene with Princess Nefertiri and Moses has visual similarities to Alma’s painting The Finding of Moses even though the story is different.
The makers of Gladiator also derived many details from Alma-Tadema’s works. Production designer Arthur Max studied Alma-Tadema’s paintings for their columns, floor mosaics and props. The incense burner, the amphora and garlands in Gladiator are strikingly similar to those in The Way to the Temple.
Whether we realise it or not, Lawrence Alma-Tadema from Dronryp shaped our image of Classical Antiquity.
.jpg?width=600&height=387&mode=crop&converttowebp=1 "Room overview Alma-Tadema, photo Ruben van Vliet")
.jpg?width=600&height=387&mode=crop&converttowebp=1 "Room overview Alma-Tadema, photo Ruben van Vliet")
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