Well-acknowledged in his time, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema brought scenes from ancient history to life in his decadent paintings. Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema, Unconscious Rivals, oil on wood, 45.1 x 62.9 cm, 1893 © Courtesy of Bristol Museum There is so much content, so beautifully portrayed that you can find mini compositions within the larger piece that stand well on it’s own.The startingly beautiful paintings by the artists who was once celebrated then rejected portray the luxury and decadence of the classical era through a contemporary lens. Patrician class observing the procession from a “reviewing box.”
Let’s take a look at some details from this amazing painting because this is one of those paintings that really rewards time spent examining the details. There is much that has been written and researched about Spring that I won’t relate here, but if you want to read a really in depth analysis, I will include a link at the end of the post. This was done right around the 1st of May as well. It has been speculated that the scene depicts the Cerealia or Ambarvalia, but more recent scholarship leans towards it being a representation of the Floralia, wherein young girls were sent into the country to retrieve flowers and bring them back in procession to honor the goddess Flora and celebrate the coming of Spring. This painting echos that contemporary scene. In Victorian England, it was becoming the fashion to send kids out into the country to gather flowers on May 1st.
Not a large painting when you consider all of the detail in the piece. Spring was completed by Tadema in 1894 (some sources say 1895) after 4 years of intermittent work and is 70 1/4 x 31 1/2 inches in size.
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