“The Roses of Heliogabalus”
This gorgeous oil on canvas painting, titled “The Roses of Heliogabalus”, was painted in 1888 by the Academic Dutch artist, Lawrence Alma-Tadema. It was commissioned by the British politician and civil engineer, Sir John Aird.
Elagabalus, served as the Roman emperor from 218 until he was assassinated at just 18 years old in 222. His reign was full of scandal and indulgence, even among his contemporaries, and he is commonly remembered as one of the worst Roman emperors to have served.
This painting depicts the (most likely untrue) story of when the Roman emperor, Elagabalus, also known as Heliogabalus, threw a banquet dinner and decided to cover his guests with flowers. According to historical lore as documented in the Augustan History, a wave of flowers was dropped onto the guests from false ceilings. The story goes that so many flowers fell from the ceiling and were piled so high, that some guests were actually smothered and suffocated to death. Elagabalus can be seen watching the scene in the background, second from the left.
For dramatic effect, Alma-Tadema decided to depict all of the flowers as roses. As this piece was painted during the winter, for four months, Alma-Tadema had roses specially brought in to his studio from the French Riviera to ensure the accuracy of the roses he depicted.
“The Roses of Heliogabalus” is currently in the private collection of the Spanish Mexican businessman, Juan Antonio Pérez Simón.
For more on Lawrence Alma-Tadema, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
