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The Roses of Heliogabalus
Welcome to the Sanctuary
of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema
A refuge for beauty, light, and the quiet contemplation of art.
Lawrence Alma-Tadema painted light the way most people paint objects. Sunlight on marble. The way it pools in the folds of silk.
He was Dutch-born, knighted in Britain, obsessed with Rome. A Victorian who never saw Pompeii but painted it like memory.
His paintings aren't about history. They're about stillness. The pause before the petal falls. The moment between breaths.
This is a sanctuary for his work. A place to look slowly.
Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836–1912) believed beauty was worth the effort. So do we.
Select a path below to begin your journey
The Ancient Light
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema didn't just paint history; he painted light.
He took the cold, distant world of Rome and flooded it with warmth—marble you can almost feel, roses that seem to shed their petals as you watch, and a blue sky that promises eternal summer. He showed us that the past was not a grey ruin, but a place where people lived, loved, and idled in the sun.
While others painted battles and emperors, Alma-Tadema painted the quiet moments between them. A shared whisper on a terrace. A woman watching a ship sail away. The cool silence of a temple at noon.
He was the master of the "pregnant pause"—the moment before something happens, or just after it has passed. This sanctuary is built in that spirit. It is a place to slow down. To look closely. To rediscover the simple, sensory pleasure of beauty.
Whether you are here for the art, the history, or just a moment of peace, we invite you to step into his world—and stay awhile.
Woman and Flowers
1868 • Oil on panel