God Speed

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A Roman subject in which a young woman leans over the parapet of a tall building to toss roses over an unseen departee. Three other women on a balocny below also witness the departure. In the middle distance is a classical arch with a view of the sea beyond. The print is based on an oil on panel of 1893 made as a wedding present for the Duke and Duchess of York (later George V and Queen Mary). The couple are portrayed in the print in a remarque at lower right. Löwenstam was personally allowed by them to borrow the painting to make this print. The etching was praised​ by the "Athenaeum" for its "considerable spirit, grace, and brightness, good draughtsmanship and finish."

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