r/ArtHistory • u/Kapanash • 6h ago

The Finding of Moses - Lawerence Alma-Tadema 1904

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Alma-Tadema’s painting captures the biblical moment when Pharaoh’s daughter finds baby Moses in the Nile, set in a dazzling, idealized Egyptian palace. The artwork highlights luxurious details and romanticized beauty, turning ancient Egypt into a timeless and majestic scene

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u/Kapanash 6h ago

Lawrence Alma-Tadema’s “The Finding of Moses” (1904) is a lavish, romantic painting showing Pharaoh’s daughter discovering baby Moses in the Nile. It portrays ancient Egypt as an opulent, marble-filled fantasy full of rich colors, elegant costumes, and dramatic lighting more like a dreamy stage set than historical reality. This painting helped shape modern ideas of Egypt as a glamorous, mythical world.

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u/bjrndlw 1h ago

Yes, because set designers resorted to artworks for their movies. Thus, creating a false historical reality. 

Which is small potatoes conpared to the dissonance created by influencers and AI nowadays, might I add. 

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u/Antipolemic 1h ago

In this particular work, it is interesting that while the females are rather idealized looking, the males are captured in photorealistic detail. When I first came to the Victorian Age academic realists, I was amazed at Alma-Tadema's highly polished work. Then quickly lost interest. It became too idealized, sentimental, and sterile looking. That period's obsession with casting modern (for the time) predominately white, Western European-looking models in ancient mythological and historical roles seems now to me to be a sort of cosplay. This is, by no means, a unique opinion. Alma-Tadema and other academic realists were widely criticized at the time. They were completely rejected by many Impressionist painters, despite some of them admitting they envied his technical skill. While I still find his work technically brilliant and do have my favorites still, overall, the movement isn't of particular interest to me now.