Roman Holidays
The Roses of Heliogabalus, 1888Today is the Ides of March. While many today would associate that phrase with the recent film, or perhaps with the quotation, ‘beware the Ides of March, in reference to Julius Caesar’s assassination in 44 BC, the Ides is a day in the Roman calendar corresponding to March 15th.
The Ides, determined by the phase of the moon, are the middle days of a month. March was the first month of the year in the Roman calendar, and so this was a New Year period. It was also the Feast of Anna Perenna, the goddess of the year, whose festivities concluded the New Year’s ceremonies. The day was enthusiastically celebrated among the hoi polloi with picnicking, drinking and revelries.
Ask Me No More, 1906While most of us are probably not dining al fresco whilst reclining on chaise longues and slaves peel grapes for us, let us instead admire the romantic paintings of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836–1912) from the dubious comfort of our office chairs.
His work has gone in and out of popularity and his reputation has dropped to the greatest lows from the rarefied heights (affecting the cost of his work to an astonishing degree), but no one can deny the breathtaking scope of his work and his commitment to depicting an utterly romanticised and Victorian notion of ancient Rome.
A Reading From Homer, 1885Alma-Tadema’s people are beautiful, the scenery breathtaking with glorious skies and sparkling light, the fashion charming and the architecture classical – and the latter rendered remarkably accurately after meticulous research. Ridley Scott even used his paintings for reference for the film Gladiator, as did Hollywood filmmakers before him.
Whether it’s a style of painting art critics take seriously or not, they are certainly a pretty enough tribute to halcyon Roman holidays – and what’s wrong with pretty every once in a while after all?
Read more about the artist, or click through a gallery of his work.
A Kiss, 1891
Unconscious Rivals, 1893
A Favourite Custom 1909
Silver Favourites 1903