A Favourite Custom | |
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Artist | Lawrence Alma-Tadema |
Year | 1909 |
Type | Oil on panel, history painting |
Dimensions | 66 cm× 45 cm(26 in× 18 in) |
Location | Tate Britain, London |
A Favourite Custom is a 1909 history painting by the Dutch British-based artist Lawrence Alma-Tadema. [1] It depicts a scene in a bathhouse at Pompeii in Ancient Rome. [2] Produced near the end of his career, it characteristically combines two nude women with a meticulously recreated portrayal of the customs of a bathhouse. He had been producing similar such paintings since 1882. [3]
The painting was displayed at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition of 1909 at Burlington House. It was then acquired for the Tate Gallery through the Chantrey Bequest for £1,750 a large sum for a smaller picture such as this. It remains in the collection of the Tate today. [4]