The Roses of Heliogabalus | Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema | 1888 Gustave Courbet Luminais focuses on the eerie

Luminais focuses on the eerie stillness that follows: the boys lie motionless on rich fabrics

standing on the edge of the cliff

barely breaking through the clouds

celebrating the universal language of dance as a symbol of human expression and connection

neither looks at the other

The Roses of Heliogabalus | Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema | 1888 Gustave Courbet Luminais focuses on the eerieAbout the artwork: The Roses of Heliogabalus (1888) by Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema is one of the most opulent and unsettling masterpieces of Victorian classicism, blending beauty with horror. Inspired by accounts from the Roman historian Aelius Lampridius, the painting depicts the young Emperor Heliogabalus hosting a lavish banquet where guests are suffocated under a cascade of rose petalsa chilling display of decadence and cruelty. Alma Tademas