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{{Short description|1888 painting by Lawrence Alma-Tadema}}
] (1888), oil on canvas.]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
⚫ '''''The Roses of Heliogabalus''''' is an 1888 painting by the Anglo-Dutch artist ] depicting the young Roman emperor ] (203-222 AD) hosting a banquet.
{{Infobox artwork
| image_file = The Roses of Heliogabalus.jpg
| image_upright = 1.8
| title = The Roses of Heliogabalus
| artist = ]
| year = 1888
| material = ]
| height_metric = 132.7
| width_metric = 214.4
| metric_unit = cm
| imperial_unit = in
| museum = Private collection
| city =
}}

⚫ '''''The Roses of Heliogabalus''''' is an oil painting by the Anglo-Dutch artist ], from 1888. It depicts the young Roman emperor ] (203–222 AD) hosting a banquet. It is held in a private collection.


==Subject== ==Subject==
The painting measures {{convert|132.7|xx| 214.4|cm}}. It shows a group of Roman diners at a banquet, being swamped by drifts of pink rose petals falling from a false ceiling above. The youthful Roman emperor ], wearing a white robe and crown of white roses, and holding a handful of black grapes in his left hand, watches the spectacle with other garlanded guests. A woman plays the ] beside a marble pillar in the background, wearing the leopard skin of a ], with a bronze statue of ], based on the ], in front of a view of distant hills. The painting measures {{convert|132.7|xx| 214.4|cm}}. It shows a group of Roman diners at a banquet, being swamped by drifts of pink ] falling from a false ceiling above. The youthful Roman emperor ], wearing a golden ] robe and tiara, watches the spectacle from a platform behind them,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/severans/roses.html|title=Alma Tadema--The Roses of Heliogabalus|website=penelope.uchicago.edu|access-date=30 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/object-of-intrigue-roses-of-heliogabalus|title=The Legend of a 'Bachelor'-style Rose Ceremony That Turned Lethal|date=5 January 2016|publisher=atlasobscura.com|access-date=30 November 2018}}</ref> with other garlanded guests. A woman plays the ] beside a marble pillar in the background, wearing the leopard skin of a ], with a bronze statue of ], based on the ], in front of a view of distant hills.


The painting depicts a (probably invented) episode in the life of the Roman emperor Elagabalus, also known as Heliogabalus (204–222), taken from the ]. Although the ] refers to "]s and other flowers", Alma-Tadema depicts Elagabalus smothering his unsuspecting guests with rose petals released from a false ceiling. The original reference is this: The painting depicts a (probably invented) episode in the life of the Roman emperor Elagabalus, also known as Heliogabalus, taken from the '']''. Although the ] refers to "]s and other flowers", Alma-Tadema depicts Elagabalus smothering his unsuspecting guests with rose petals released from a false ceiling. The original reference is this:


{{quote|{{lang|la|Oppressit in tricliniis versatilibus parasitos suos violis et floribus, sic ut animam aliqui efflaverint, cum erepere ad summum non possent.}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Elagabalus/2*.html|title=Historia Augusta • Vita Heliogabali (Pars II)|publisher=}}</ref> {{poem quote|{{lang|la|Oppressit in tricliniis versatilibus parasitos suos violis et floribus, sic ut animam aliqui efflaverint, cum erepere ad summum non possent.}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Elagabalus/2*.html|title=Historia Augusta • Vita Heliogabali (Pars II)}}</ref>


In a banqueting-room with a reversible ceiling he once buried his guests in violets and other flowers, so that some were actually smothered to death, being unable to crawl out to the top.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Elagabalus/2*.html#21|title=Historia Augusta • Life of Elagabalus (Part 2 of 2)|publisher=}}</ref>}} In a banqueting-room with a reversible ceiling he once buried his guests in violets and other flowers, so that some were actually smothered to death, being unable to crawl out to the top.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Elagabalus/2*.html#21|title=Historia Augusta • Life of Elagabalus (Part 2 of 2)}}</ref>}}


In his notes to the Augustan History, Thayer notes that "] did this also (Suetonius, Nero, xxxi), and a similar ceiling in the house of ] is described in ], Sat., lx." (]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Elagabalus/2*.html#note84|title=Historia Augusta • Life of Elagabalus (Part 2 of 2)|publisher=}}</ref> In his notes to the ''Augustan History'', Magie notes that "] did this also (Suetonius, Nero, xxxi), and a similar ceiling in the house of ] is described in ], Sat., lx." (]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Elagabalus/2*.html#note84|title=Historia Augusta • Life of Elagabalus (Part 2 of 2)}}</ref>


==History== ==History==
The painting was commissioned by ] for £4,000 in 1888. As roses were out of season in the ], Alma-Tadema is reputed to have had rose petals sent from the south of France each week during the four months in which it was painted.<ref>, ArtNews, 1 January 2011 </ref> The painting was commissioned by ] for £4,000 in 1888. As roses were out of season in the ], Alma-Tadema is reputed to have had rose petals sent from the ] each week during the four months in which it was painted.<ref>, ArtNews, 1 January 2011</ref>


The painting was exhibited at the ] in 1888. Aird died in 1911, and the painting was inherited by his son Sir ]. After Alma-Tadema died in 1912, the painting was exhibited at a memorial exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1913, the last time it was seen at a public exhibition in the UK until 2014. The painting was exhibited at the ] in 1888. Aird died in 1911, and the painting was inherited by his son Sir ]. After Alma-Tadema died in 1912, the painting was exhibited at a memorial exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1913, the last time it was seen at a public exhibition in the UK until 2014.


Alma-Tadema's reputation declined markedly in the decades after his death. Following the death of the 2nd Baronet in 1934, the painting was sold by his son, the 3rd Baronet, in 1935 for 483 guineas. It failed to sell at ] in 1960, and was "bought in" by the auction house for 100 guineas.{{citation needed|date = September 2016}} Next it was acquired by ]: he was the producer of '']'', and a collector of Alma-Tadema's at a time when the artist remained very unfashionable. After Funt experienced financial troubles, he sold the painting along with the rest of his collection at ] in London in November 1973, achieving a price of £28,000. The painting was sold again by American collector ] at Christie's in London in June 1993 for £1,500,000.<ref>, Financial Times, 14 November 2014</ref><ref>, Frederick W. Farrar, VictorianWeb</ref> It is currently owned by the Spanish-Mexican billionaire businessman and art collector ].<ref>{{cite news |last=Kennedy |first=Maev |author-link=Maev Kennedy |date=2 June 2014 |title=Quiet billionaire's Victorian art collection loaned to Leighton House |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jun/02/juan-antonio-perez-simon-victorian-art-collection-leighton-house |newspaper=] |access-date=14 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Kennedy |first=Maev |date=13 November 2014 |title=Victorian art ‘comes home’ to London house |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/nov/13/london-house-host-billionaire-private-collection-victorian-art |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=14 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Bugler |first=Caroline |date=13 November 2014 |title=Lord Leighton RA and the Victorian ideal of female beauty: Objects of desire |url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/lord-leighton-victorian-idea-of-female-beauty |publisher=] |location=London |access-date=14 February 2015}}</ref> Alma-Tadema's reputation declined markedly in the decades after his death. Following the death of the 2nd Baronet in 1934, the painting was sold by his son, the 3rd Baronet, in 1935 for 483 ]. It failed to sell at ] in 1960 and was "bought in" by the auction house for 100 guineas.{{citation needed|date = September 2016}} Next, it was acquired by ]: he was the producer of '']'' and a collector of Alma-Tadema's at a time when the artist remained very unfashionable. After Funt experienced financial troubles, he sold the painting along with the rest of his collection at ] in London in November 1973, achieving a price of £28,000. The painting was sold again by American collector ] at Christie's in London in June 1993 for £1,500,000.<ref>, Financial Times, 14 November 2014</ref><ref>, Frederick W. Farrar, VictorianWeb</ref> It is currently owned by the Spanish-Mexican billionaire businessman and art collector ].<ref>{{cite news |last=Kennedy |first=Maev |author-link=Maev Kennedy |date=2 June 2014 |title=Quiet billionaire's Victorian art collection loaned to Leighton House |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jun/02/juan-antonio-perez-simon-victorian-art-collection-leighton-house |newspaper=] |access-date=14 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Kennedy |first=Maev |date=13 November 2014 |title=Victorian art 'comes home' to London house |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/nov/13/london-house-host-billionaire-private-collection-victorian-art |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=14 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Bugler |first=Caroline |date=13 November 2014 |title=Lord Leighton RA and the Victorian ideal of female beauty: Objects of desire |url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/lord-leighton-victorian-idea-of-female-beauty |publisher=] |location=London |access-date=14 February 2015}}</ref>


== Exhibitions == == Exhibitions ==
* The painting was included in an exhibition at the ] in New York in March and April 1973 (during the period when Allen Funt owned it).<ref>, press release, March 1973</ref> * The painting was included in an exhibition at the ] in New York in March and April 1973 (when the owner was Allen Funt).<ref>, press release, March 1973</ref>
* The painting is part of a private collection but was on display from 14 November 2014 to 29 March 2015 at the ] in London as part of the exhibition ''A Victorian Obsession: The Pérez Simón collection at Leighton House Museum'', the first time since Alma-Tadema's memorial exhibition at the ] in 1913 that it has been exhibited in London.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/subsites/museums/leightonhousemuseum/avictorianobsession.aspx |title=A Victorian Obsession: The Pérez Simón collection at Leighton House Museum |publisher=] |location=London |access-date=14 February 2015}}</ref> It returned to the Leighton House Museum from July 7 to October 29, 2017 for the exhibition "Alma-Tadema: At Home in Antiquity."<ref name="antiquity">{{Cite web |url=https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/subsites/museums/leightonhousemuseum/exhibitionalmatademaathome/lawrencealmatadema.aspx |title=Alma-Tadema: At Home in Antiquity |website=Leighton House Museum |access-date=2017-08-03}}</ref> * The painting is part of a private collection but was on display from 14 November 2014 to 29 March 2015 at the ] in London as part of the exhibition ''A Victorian Obsession: The Pérez Simón collection at Leighton House Museum'', the first time since Alma-Tadema's memorial exhibition at the ] in 1913, that it has been exhibited in London.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/subsites/museums/leightonhousemuseum/avictorianobsession.aspx |title=A Victorian Obsession: The Pérez Simón collection at Leighton House Museum |publisher=] |location=London |access-date=14 February 2015}}</ref> It returned to the Leighton House Museum from 7 July to 29 October 2017 for the exhibition "Alma-Tadema: At Home in Antiquity."<ref name="antiquity">{{Cite web |url=https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/subsites/museums/leightonhousemuseum/exhibitionalmatademaathome/lawrencealmatadema.aspx |title=Alma-Tadema: At Home in Antiquity |website=Leighton House Museum |access-date=2017-08-03}}</ref>
* The painting was a part of an exhibition of ]'s paintings in ], Austria from Feb 24th 2017 to June 18th 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.artsy.net/show/belvedere-museum-lawrence-alma-tadema-decadence-and-antiquity|title=Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Decadence & Antiquity |location=Vienna, Austria}}</ref> * The painting was a part of an exhibition of ]'s paintings in ], Austria from 24 February 2017 to 18 June 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.artsy.net/show/belvedere-museum-lawrence-alma-tadema-decadence-and-antiquity|title=Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Decadence & Antiquity |location=Vienna, Austria}}</ref>
* ''La Pluie de roses D'Héliogabale'' is a separate yet similar painting, recorded to have been displayed at the 1880 ], done by an artist under the name A. Heullant, likely Félix Armand Heullant. <ref>{{Cite book |last=Dumas |first=F.G. (François Guillaume) |url=http://archive.org/details/catalogueillustr1880soci |title=Catalogue illustré Du Salon |date= |publisher=L. Baschet |others=Getty Research Institute |year=1880 |pages=286}}</ref>
* Between 20 September 2024 and 12 January 2025 the painting is displayed at the cultural centre ], inside the ], town hall of the ], as a part of the exhibition ''Seventy Great Masters from the Pérez Simón Collection.''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seventy Great Masters from the Pérez Simón Collection {{!}} CentroCentro |url=https://www.centrocentro.org/en/exhibition/seventy-great-masters-perez-simon-collection |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=www.centrocentro.org |language=en}}</ref>


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist|2}} {{reflist}}


{{Italic title}}
{{Lawrence Alma-Tadema|state=expanded}} {{Lawrence Alma-Tadema|state=expanded}}
{{Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood}} {{Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood}}
{{Commons|Category:The Roses of Heliogabalus by Lawrence Alma-Tadema}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Roses of Heliogabalus, The}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Roses of Heliogabalus}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Roses of Heliogabalus, The}}
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Latest revision as of 17:24, 30 October 2024

1888 painting by Lawrence Alma-Tadema

The Roses of Heliogabalus
ArtistLawrence Alma-Tadema
Year1888
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions132.7 cm × 214.4 cm (52.2 in × 84.4 in)
LocationPrivate collection

The Roses of Heliogabalus is an oil painting by the Anglo-Dutch artist Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, from 1888. It depicts the young Roman emperor Elagabalus (203–222 AD) hosting a banquet. It is held in a private collection.

Subject

The painting measures 132.7 × 214.4 centimetres (52.2 × 84.4 in). It shows a group of Roman diners at a banquet, being swamped by drifts of pink rose petals falling from a false ceiling above. The youthful Roman emperor Elagabalus, wearing a golden silk robe and tiara, watches the spectacle from a platform behind them, with other garlanded guests. A woman plays the double pipes beside a marble pillar in the background, wearing the leopard skin of a maenad, with a bronze statue of Dionysus, based on the Ludovisi Dionysus, in front of a view of distant hills.

The painting depicts a (probably invented) episode in the life of the Roman emperor Elagabalus, also known as Heliogabalus, taken from the Augustan History. Although the Latin refers to "violets and other flowers", Alma-Tadema depicts Elagabalus smothering his unsuspecting guests with rose petals released from a false ceiling. The original reference is this:

Oppressit in tricliniis versatilibus parasitos suos violis et floribus, sic ut animam aliqui efflaverint, cum erepere ad summum non possent.

In a banqueting-room with a reversible ceiling he once buried his guests in violets and other flowers, so that some were actually smothered to death, being unable to crawl out to the top.

In his notes to the Augustan History, Magie notes that "Nero did this also (Suetonius, Nero, xxxi), and a similar ceiling in the house of Trimalchio is described in Petronius, Sat., lx." (Satyricon).

History

The painting was commissioned by Sir John Aird, 1st Baronet for £4,000 in 1888. As roses were out of season in the United Kingdom, Alma-Tadema is reputed to have had rose petals sent from the south of France each week during the four months in which it was painted.

The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy summer exhibition in 1888. Aird died in 1911, and the painting was inherited by his son Sir John Richard Aird, 2nd Baronet. After Alma-Tadema died in 1912, the painting was exhibited at a memorial exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1913, the last time it was seen at a public exhibition in the UK until 2014.

Alma-Tadema's reputation declined markedly in the decades after his death. Following the death of the 2nd Baronet in 1934, the painting was sold by his son, the 3rd Baronet, in 1935 for 483 guineas. It failed to sell at Christie's in 1960 and was "bought in" by the auction house for 100 guineas. Next, it was acquired by Allen Funt: he was the producer of Candid Camera and a collector of Alma-Tadema's at a time when the artist remained very unfashionable. After Funt experienced financial troubles, he sold the painting along with the rest of his collection at Sotheby's in London in November 1973, achieving a price of £28,000. The painting was sold again by American collector Frederick Koch at Christie's in London in June 1993 for £1,500,000. It is currently owned by the Spanish-Mexican billionaire businessman and art collector Juan Antonio Pérez Simón.

Exhibitions

  • The painting was included in an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in March and April 1973 (when the owner was Allen Funt).
  • The painting is part of a private collection but was on display from 14 November 2014 to 29 March 2015 at the Leighton House Museum in London as part of the exhibition A Victorian Obsession: The Pérez Simón collection at Leighton House Museum, the first time since Alma-Tadema's memorial exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1913, that it has been exhibited in London. It returned to the Leighton House Museum from 7 July to 29 October 2017 for the exhibition "Alma-Tadema: At Home in Antiquity."
  • The painting was a part of an exhibition of Lawrence Alma-Tadema's paintings in Belvedere, Vienna, Austria from 24 February 2017 to 18 June 2017.
  • La Pluie de roses D'Héliogabale is a separate yet similar painting, recorded to have been displayed at the 1880 Paris Salon, done by an artist under the name A. Heullant, likely Félix Armand Heullant.
  • Between 20 September 2024 and 12 January 2025 the painting is displayed at the cultural centre CentroCentro, inside the Cybele Palace, town hall of the Madrid, as a part of the exhibition Seventy Great Masters from the Pérez Simón Collection.

References

  1. "Alma Tadema--The Roses of Heliogabalus". penelope.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  2. "The Legend of a 'Bachelor'-style Rose Ceremony That Turned Lethal". atlasobscura.com. 5 January 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  3. "Historia Augusta • Vita Heliogabali (Pars II)".
  4. "Historia Augusta • Life of Elagabalus (Part 2 of 2)".
  5. "Historia Augusta • Life of Elagabalus (Part 2 of 2)".
  6. From ‘Riches to Rags to Riches’, ArtNews, 1 January 2011
  7. A Victorian Obsession: The Pérez Simón Collection’ at the Leighton House Museum, Financial Times, 14 November 2014
  8. A Moral Critique of The Roses of Heliogabalus, Frederick W. Farrar, VictorianWeb
  9. Kennedy, Maev (2 June 2014). "Quiet billionaire's Victorian art collection loaned to Leighton House". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  10. Kennedy, Maev (13 November 2014). "Victorian art 'comes home' to London house". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  11. Bugler, Caroline (13 November 2014). "Lord Leighton RA and the Victorian ideal of female beauty: Objects of desire". London: Royal Academy of Arts. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  12. Exhibition of Paintings by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema Opens at Metropolitan Museum, press release, March 1973
  13. "A Victorian Obsession: The Pérez Simón collection at Leighton House Museum". London: Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  14. "Alma-Tadema: At Home in Antiquity". Leighton House Museum. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  15. "Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Decadence & Antiquity". Vienna, Austria.
  16. Dumas, F.G. (François Guillaume) (1880). Catalogue illustré Du Salon. Getty Research Institute. L. Baschet. p. 286.
  17. "Seventy Great Masters from the Pérez Simón Collection | CentroCentro". www.centrocentro.org. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
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