Detail View: The AMICA Library: Midday Slumbers

Lawrence Alma-Tadema had a lifelong interest in archeology and history, but the turning point in his career came in 1863 when he visited the newly excavated sites of Herculaneum and Pompeii. When he returned to Antwerp, he began to specialize in recreations of Roman and Greek life. He immigrated to London in 1870 and became one of Victorian England's most popular and respected artists.

In the 1880's, when Midday Slumbers was completed, Alma-Tadema's paintings became less concerned with the depiction of actual historical events and personages and more interested in scenes of Roman domestic life. Accused of painting "Victorians in togas," Alma-Tadema's wealthy middle-class admirers could easily identify with his compositions. The artist's family and friends often appeared as his models; here we see the artist's two daughters, Laurense and Anna. Alma-Tadema was renowned for the amount of detail in his paintings and the way in which he could reproduce textures, especially marble.