Image Gallery
Sappho and Alcaeus (Painting)
Sappho and Alcaeus, oil on panel by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1881. The painting illustrates a passage by the ancient Greek poet Hermesianax (active c. 330 BCE) depicting a scene on the island of Lesbos (Mytilene) during the late 7th century BCE, where Sappho and her companions are enraptured by the performance of the poet Alcaeus playing a kithara. Alma-Tadema made an effort to maintain authenticity by replicating the marble seating of the Theater of Dionysos in Athens. Nevertheless, he replaced the names of the officials incised on the Athenian prototype with those of members of Sappho's sorority.
The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.
