A Favourite Custom

A Favourite Custom is an oil on canvas history painting by the Dutch British artist Lawrence Alma-Tadema, from 1909.^[1]

A Favourite Custom
Artist	Lawrence Alma-Tadema
Year	1909
Type	Oil on panel, history painting
Dimensions	66 cm × 45 cm (26 in × 18 in)
Location	Tate Britain, London

Description

It depicts a scene in a bathhouse at Pompeii in Ancient Rome.^[2] In the foreground, two naked women are seen playfully in a bathouse. Produced near the end of his career, it characteristically combines two nude women with a meticulously recreated portrayal of the customs of a bathhouse. He had been producing similar such paintings since 1882.^[3]

Provenance

The painting was displayed at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition of 1909 at Burlington House. It was then acquired for the Tate Gallery through the Chantrey Bequest for £1,750 a large sum for a smaller picture such as this. It remains in the collection of the Tate.^[4]