Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema (1836-1912) was born Lorenz Alma Tadema in the Netherlands. At 16 he began formal art training in Antwerp at the Academy of Art followed by a period of time at the Studio of Louis Jan de Taeye. In 1859 he joined the studio of Baron Henri Leys where he completed his first major painting: The Education of the Children of Clovis .
In 1863 he married Marie-Pauline Gressin Dumoulin and honeymooned in Pompeii. This trip was to influence much of his work including Silent Greeting (1889) and A Favourite Custom (1909)
In 1870, after the death of his son and wife, he and his two daughters moved to London. Tadema changed his first name to Lawrence and established himself as a major figure in the Victorian art world, becoming an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1876.
Tadema also worked on theatre design and production as well as moving towards designing furniture. In 1899 he was awarded a Knighthood, and in 1905 the Order of Merit.
From the guide to the Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema Correspondence, 1892-1900, (V&A Theatre and Performance)
