A Roman Studio

In a bright stone setting lined with columns, people gather around paintings. An easel stands at the left, where a bearded older man and a woman peer at a picture. At the right, a man in a short tunic leans forward and shows a small framed picture to the others. A carved stone slab can be seen on the back wall. It is oil on panel, measuring 64.0 x 93.5 cm.

According to the museum's commentary, Alma-Tadema, who settled in London in 1870, had become one of Britain's leading painters by 1874. In that year he completed as many as 21 works, and it is said to have been the most fruitful year of his life.

Ancient Roman painters and sculptors showing their work to connoisseurs in studios and exhibition rooms are a particularly important subject in his early works, and this work likewise depicts people commenting on a picture painted by the man at the right. The "Op. CXXXVI" written on the easel at the upper left is his opus number (136), a habit that continued from his first work in 1851, with the numbers reaching 408 in his lifetime.