The Story of Alma-Tadema and the Epps Family

NARRATOR: This screen shows the Epps family. It was painted in 1870 by Lawrence Alma-Tadema as an exercise to teach his pupil, Miss Laura Epps. Laura is standing in the doorway on the right, wearing a simple but fashionable green dress. Alma-Tadema is the man with the beard just to Lauras right. Alma-Tadema started off the figures and Laura finished them. He offered his tuition because the first time he saw Laura he fell hopelessly in love. His picture dealer, Ernest Gambart, wrote:

GAMBART: Tadema went last Boxing Day to a dance at Madox Browns, fell in love at first sight with Miss Epps, the surgeon's daughter, and is going to marry her as soon as she names the day - it plays havoc with his painting; he cannot turn to work since.

NARRATOR: Laura's father, who is at the head of the table on the left, agreed to the lessons, although he felt uneasy because Laura was only seventeen and Lawrence a widower of thirty four. The Epps family had strong artistic leanings which were financed by Laura's fathers successful medical practice. Not only did Laura paint but so did her sister Emily, who stands with her back to us in the cream dress. In the middle with her new baby is another of Laura's sister Louisa and next to her the shadowy figure of her husband Rowland Hill. After a stock market scandal, Rowland fled to Argentina, so he was painted out of the picture. But the covering layer of paint is now fading and Rowland's image can be seen once more. By the time the screen was two thirds finished Lawrence Alma-Tadema had proposed to his pupil, and her father had given them his blessing. The screen remains incomplete as you can see by the white area in front of the table on the left. Perhaps by then its purpose had been served.