A Roman Emperor: 41 AD

Description In AD 41, the debauched Roman emperor Caligula was murdered. Gratus, a member of the Praetorian, draws a curtain aside to reveal the terrified Claudius who is hailed as emperor on the spot. Beneath the herm in the background, lie the bodies of Caligula, his wife Caesonia, their young daughter and a bystander. The blood stains on the herm denote the struggle that has transpired as well as the setting, the Hermaeum, an apartment in the Palace where Claudius had sought refuge. Opus LXXXVIII

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
4/19/1966	Treatment	varnish removed; lined; inpainted; coated
8/16/1990	Loan Consideration	examined for loan
7/15/1992	Loan Consideration	examined for loan
5/22/1996	Loan Consideration	examined for loan

Exhibitions

• Grosvenor Gallery, London, 1882. Grosvenor Gallery, London. 1882.
• Exposition Universelle. Paris. 1878.
• I, Claudius: Art in the Age of Julio-Claudians. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1977-1978.
• Empires Restored, Elysium Revisited: The Art of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum, AJ Amsterdam; The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown; The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore; Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati; The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis. 1991-1992.
• Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum, AJ Amsterdam; Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. 1996-1997.
• From Rye to Raphael: The Walters Story. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2014-2016.

Provenance Commissioned by Messrs Ernest Gambart, London, 1871; transferred to M. Pilgeram and L.H. Lefevre, London, 1878; purchased by William T. Walters, Baltimore, 1882; inherited by Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894; by bequest Walters Art Museum, 1931.

Inscriptions [Signature] On altar socle: L Alma Tadema; [Date] On altar socle: 71

Credit Acquired by William T. Walters, 1882