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Woman and Flowers
Woman and Flowers

Woman and Flowers

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (Dutch (active in England), 1836–1912)
1868
Country of Origin, for CustomsEngland
Medium/TechniqueOil on panel
Dimensions49.8 x 37.2 cm (19 5/8 x 14 5/8 in.)
Credit LineGift of Edward Jackson Holmes
Accession number41.117
On View
On view
ClassificationsPaintings
Collections
Description
In many paintings, Alma‑Tadema fused the stylistic elements of northern European scenes of daily life with the contemporary Victorian interest in classical antiquity. (The artist himself owned 168 volumes of photographs of Greek and Roman artifacts). Here, he depicts a woman in classical dress leaning on a Pompeian bronze table, the model for which survives in the archaeological museum in Naples. The artist’s detailed treatment of flowers, jewelry, and textiles lends a sense of immediacy to his depiction of a faraway place and time.
InscriptionsCenter left, on table edge: L. ALMA-TADEMA 1868ProvenanceBy 1872, Thomas Wigglesworth (b. 1814 - d. 1906 or 1907), Boston [see note 1]; by descent to his niece, Henrietta Goddard Wigglesworth (Mrs. W. Scott Fitz) (b. 1847 - d. 1927), Boston; by descent to her son, Edward Jackson Holmes (b. 1873 - d. 1950), Boston; 1941, gift of Edward Jackson Holmes to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 13, 1941)

NOTES:
[1] He first lent the painting to the Boston Athenaeum in 1872 ("The Roman Lady," cat. no. 158).