Peindre l’Antiquité romaine à l’heure du pacifisme victorien : considérations sur un portrait d’Hadrien par Alma-Tadema

Abstract

Roman antiquity was a major reference for artists all along the 19th century. In this time of European crisis, critics as public did appreciate how striking pictures (battles and sacrifices) depicted heroism and bravery. Although Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema was the flagship of the British Classic Revival, he definitely chose to paint a different kind of serene Antiquity that was known to illustrate, at the very end, the current mood of English society. Hadrian in England Visiting a Romano-British Pottery, a 1884 painting, let us guess how Alma-Tadema used Antiquity that way, as Hadrian was the only emperor who came to England, not to mention that it was quite significant to figure the main actor of the pax Romana whereas European pacifist expectations were challenging British imperialism. Full of archeological details, this puzzling painting will help us to understand why ancient Rome became a prime model as well as an ideological authority for Victorian England in search of legitimacy.