MAG Collection - The Sculpture Gallery

The Sculpture Gallery

1875
30 1/4 x 23 1/4 in. (76.8 x 59.1 cm)

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema
Netherlands (Dronerijp, the Netherlands, 1836 - 1912, Wiesbaden, Germany)

Object Type: Painting

Medium and Support: Oil on panel

Credit Line: Marion Stratton Gould Fund

Accession Number: 1989.45

Location: Currently on view

Link to this object

Alma-Tadema is known for his historical and anecdotal scenes set in classical antiquity or medieval Europe. The Sculpture Gallery is one of a number of scenes showing patrons at an ancient art gallery or sculptor’s studio. Here a slave—recognizable by the tablet hanging around his neck—displays a basin ornamented with Scylla, the mythological sea-serpent. The 19th-century collecting audience could likely identify the "Infant Hercules Struggling with a Snake," from the Capodimonti Museum in Naples at the left, and on the right, the statue of Helen, mother of Emperor Constantine, from the Capitoline museum in Rome. The Roman visitors are modelled on members of Alma-Tadema's family, including the artist’s wife and children, at the center.

The artist travelled widely and visited historic sites, gaining a reputation for his accuracy in depicting ancient settings and artifacts. However, it was modern technology that helped him achieve this renown: the artist collected professional photographs of artworks and artifacts found on archaeological digs, using these images as the basis for his scenes.

[Gallery label text, 2011]

Provenance

Commissioned from the artist by Ernest Gambart, London (dealer); William H. Vanderbilt (1821-1885), New York, by 1883; his bequest to his son George Washington Vanderbilt II (1862-1914), New York, 1885; his bequest to his nephew Cornelius Vanderbilt III (1873-1942), New York, 1914; his sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, April 18-19, 1945, lot 64; Renaissance Galleries, New York (dealer), 1945; Hearst Corporation, New York, until 1963; their sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, inc., New York, March 23, 1963, lot 81; bought at that sale by Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. (1909-1988), New York; his sale, Sotheby's, New York, June 1, 1989, lot 120; bought in at that sale; purchased by the Gallery from the Chrysler family, though Sotheby's, in 1989

Keywords Click a term to view the records with the same keyword

19th century

children

men

women

1800-1900

paintings

Orientalism

Additional Images Click an image to view a larger version

Exhibition List

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

Empires Restored, Elysium Revisited: The Art of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema 9/21/1991 - 9/6/1992
Alma-Tadema and Antiquity: Imagining Classical Sculpture in Late-Nineteenth-Cent 6/28/2008 - 9/28/2008
Walter Goodman's The Printseller's Window: Solving a Painter's Puzzle Memorial Art Gallery 8/14/2009 - 11/8/2009
Orchestrating Elegance: Alma-Tadema & Design 6/4/2017 - 9/4/2017

Bibliography

This object has the following bibliographic references:

Memorial Art Gallery. Gallery Notes. Rochester, New York: Memorial Art Gallery, 1935-1995.
Museum News. New York, New York: American Association of Museums
Article Author: Swanson, Vern G.. Article Title: Alma-Tadema's "A Sculpture Gallery". Article Scope: Article and reproduction. Porticus. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery Volume Number: 12/13 Issue Date: 1989-90. Page Number: 64-72, cover
Gazette des Beaux-Arts. Paris, France: Gazette des Beaux-Arts
Memorial Art Gallery. ARTiculate. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 2000--.
Article Scope: Article and reproduction. William R. Johnston and Jennifer Gordon Lovett. Empires Restored, Elysium Revisited: The Art of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Williamstown, MA: Clark Art Institute, 1991.
Vern G. Swanson. The Biography and Catalogue Raisonne of the Paintings of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. London, England: Garton & Co, 1990.
Edward Strahan. Mr. Vanderbilt's House and Collection. Boston, MA: G. Barrie, 1883. Volume Number: I
Article Scope: Entry and reproduction. The Estate of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.: Old master and 19th century paintings. New York, NY: Sotheby's New York, June 1 1989.
Collection of W. H. Vanderbilt: 640 Fifth Avenue, New York. New York, NY, 1884.
Article Scope: Mention. Vern G. Swanson. Alma-Tadema: The painter of the Victorian vision of the Ancient world. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1977.
Article Scope: Mention and reproduction. Percy Cross Standing. Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema O.M., R.A.. Cassell and Company, Limited, 1905.
Article Scope: Entry. George H. Story. Illustrated Catalogue: Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. New York, NY: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1905.
Article Title: Courtyards and Gardens. Article Scope: Entry and reproduction. Carol C. Mattusch. Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture Around the Bay of Naples. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 2008. Page Number: 174-175, Figure Number: 1, p. 175
Article Author: Goodin, Alexis. Article Title: A "Thoroughness of Decorative Design": Alma-Tadema's London Interiors. Article Scope: Mention and reproduction. Kathleen M. Morris. Orchestrating Elegance: Alma-Tadema and the Marquand Music Room. Williamstown, MA: Clark Art Institute, 2017. Page Number: 32-33; cat. 2, p. 206, Figure Number: 37, p. 34