Glaucus and Nydia (1867): Art, History and Details

Glaucus and Nydia (1867) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Lawrence Alma-Tadema (British, 1836–1912).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

"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.

Object facts

• Title: Glaucus and Nydia
• Date: 1867
• Creator attribution: Lawrence Alma-Tadema (British, 1836–1912)
• Culture: England, 19th century
• Type: Painting
• Technique: 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.)
• Collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960
• Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1977.128

A detail from the museum

Alma-Tadema, one of the most popular Victorian painters, became famous for his depictions of the luxury and decadence of the Roman Empire. His vision of the ancient world was constantly reproduced on film in Hollywood.

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin

Further reading listed by the museum

• Forbes, Christopher. Victorians in Togas. New York, NY: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1973.
• Argencourt, Louise d', and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.