Summer Offering 1911

Lawrence Alma-Tadema made this oil painting called Summer Offering, sometime in the late 19th century. Look at how the pastel palette sort of glows. The brushwork blends so seamlessly, it's like the image just emerged from the canvas itself, which, of course, is part of the magic. The real joy here is the materiality of the paint. It’s built up in these delicate layers, especially in the faces of the figures, giving them this soft, almost dreamlike quality. The way the light catches the petals in the bouquets, you can almost smell the roses. The soft pinks and whites are echoed in the skin tones, blurring the line between flesh and flower. I love how the artist uses thin glazes to build up the colour, so that it seems to shimmer and vibrate. For me this evokes the Pre-Raphaelites, think Millais or Rossetti, with their focus on beauty and detail, while maintaining a sense of timelessness. Ultimately, it's a reminder that art is an ongoing conversation. It's not about fixed meanings, but about the possibilities of interpretation, and of seeing the world anew.