A Favourite Custom

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

Description

It depicts a scene in a bathhouse at Pompeii in Ancient Rome. 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.

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.