LAURENCE ALMA-TADEMA 1836-1912
No.10

Sappho and Alcaeus (1881)

The painting depicts a concert in the late 7th century BC with the poet Alcaeus playing the kithara. In the audience is fellow Lesbian poet Sappho, accompanied by several of her female friends. Sappho is playing close attention to the performance, resting her arm on a cushion which bears a laurel wreath, presumably intended for the performer.