Standing Roman

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A noble Roman, perhaps the emperor Claudius, stands lost in thought as he fingers a rich curtain. Elements in the study--the archeologically accurate tripod table, the textile decorated with an image of "Amphitrite in Triumph"--can be found in paintings that Alma-Tadema made beween 1865 and 1871. Born in Friesland, the artist studied in Antwerp, worked in Brussels then moved to London in 1870 where he pioneered a distinctive mode of historical painting that mixed history and genre with evocative, detailed settings. The present drawing likely was made by a student or admirer, and prods the viewer to recall Claudius's sudden rise to power when the Praetorian Guard murdered his corrupt nephew Caligula (Alma-Tadema painted versions of that subject in 1867 and 1871).

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art