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Glaucus and Nydia
About the Artwork
"It was one of the few moments in her brief and troubled life that it was sweet to treasure." Weaving a rose garland as a present for her beloved master Glaucus, the blind servant Nydia resists speaking of her love for him. The scene is based on Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton's enormously popular historical novel The Last Days of Pompeii (published in 1835), a melodramatic epic set in ancient Roman times, which culminates with the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Responding to the 19th-century appetite for things antique, the artist filled his historical scenes with depictions of Roman frescoes and statuary. Dutch by birth, Alma-Tadema made this picture in Brussels for a London art dealer. But the demand for such paintings became so great that he moved to England, where he achieved great financial and social success.
Inscriptions
Signed upper left: L. Alma Tadema 67
Exhibition history
Year in Review: 1977. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1977-January 22, 1978). The Last Days of Pompeii: Decadence, Apocalypse, Resurrection. Getty Villa, Pacific Palisades, CA (September 12, 2012-January 7, 2013); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 24-July 7, 2013).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Lawrence Alma-Tadema (British, 1836–1912)
- Date
- 1867
- Medium
- oil on wood panel
- Dimensions
- Framed: 55.5 x 81 x 4.5 cm (21 7/8 x 31 7/8 x 1 3/4 in.); Unframed: 39 x 64.3 cm (15 3/8 x 25 5/16 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin
- Accession no.
- 1977.128
Provenance
1867: Ernest Gambart, London, United Kingdom, by commission of the artist 1867-1870: Ernest Gambart [1814-1902], London, United Kingdom, after 1870 sold to José de Murrieta, alias Marquis de Santurce. 1883: (Christie's, London, United Kingdom, April 7, 1883, lot 164, Marquis de Santurce sale, bought in) 1895: (Christie's, London, United Kingdom, March 30, 1895, lot 143, sold to Stephen Gooden & Fox) 1895: ( Stephen Gooden & Fox, London. United Kingdom, sold to Thomas Agnew & Sons) 1917: (Thomas Agnew & Son, London, United Kingdom, January 15, 1917 sold to A.G. O'Neil) 1973: (Sotheby's Belgravia, Funt Collection Sale, November 6, 1973, lot 8, sold to Jules Brassner, New York. Jules Brasser [1916-1999], New York, NY, sold to Mr. Noah Butkin 1977: Mr. Noah Butkin [1918-1980],Cleveland, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art 1977-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
More by Lawrence Alma-Tadema in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009603
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