Lawrence Alma-Tadema

Born in Friesland, Lawrence Alma-Tadema trained at the Antwerp Academy and worked with the history painter Hendrik Leys before settling in London in 1870. He built a lucrative career painting daily life in ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt, with marble that looks cool to the touch and archaeological detail drawn from Pompeii. He was knighted in 1899. He numbered his paintings with Roman numerals as opus numbers, reaching more than 400.