The Vintage Festival. Engraving By A. Blanchard After A Painting By Sir Lawrence Alma-tadema

Steel engraving from 1873 by Auguste Blanchard (1819-1898), after a painting by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (Opus LXXXI), hand-colored, 36 cm x 85 cm, bears the blind stamp "Printsellers Association". Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema (Dronrijp, January 8, 1836 - Wiesbaden, June 25, 1912) was a Dutch-British painter who worked according to the academic tradition. He was one of Britain's most renowned painters of the late 19th century. Alma Tadema's paintings are distinguished by the attention to detail, the smooth finish and the realistic expression of the fabric. Most of his works represent idealized scenes from history, particularly from classical Antiquity. To serve a wider audience, the prolific Alma-Tadema had engravings made of his most popular paintings. Only the best engravers were eligible to produce etchings, steel engravings and rotogravures meeting his requirements. For example, Leopold Löwenstam made etchings, Auguste Blanchard made steel engravings, while the Berlin Photographic Co. made photogravures. The Vintage Festival, the wine festival. The work takes as its subject one of the Roman religious rituals dedicated to the god Bacchus. A priestess leads a procession celebrating the annual grape harvest, her hair decorated with grapes and vines, followed by musicians and dancing figures. Two men carry amphoras with new wine and a servant carries a basket of grapes. In the foreground is a terracotta pot filled with wine. The engraving has some small stains.