An Egyptian in a Doorway (1865)

Alma-Tadema, Lawrence (1836-1912)

An Egyptian in a Doorway
1865
Oil on wood, 55.9 x 39.4 cm
Metropolitan Museum of ArtNew York

In the mid-1860s, Alma-Tadema painted a number of subjects set in ancient Egypt, in which convincing archaeological precision and uncanny lifelikeness seem to make the distant past come alive. This method paralleled that of Orientalist painters such as Jean-Léon Gérôme, who specialized both in depictions of contemporary life in the Middle East and in historical subjects. Later in his career, Alma-Tadema would specialize in scenes of ancient Rome. (MET)

See also:

• Egypt