in 1860. His first great success was a picture of “The Education of the Children of Clovis” (1861), which was exhibited at Antwerp. In the following year he received his first gold medal at Amsterdam. The “Education of the Children of Clovis” (three young children of Clovis and Clotilde practising the art of hurling the axe in the presence of their widowed mother, who is training them to avenge the murder of their own parent) was one of a series of Merovingian pictures, of which the finest was the “Fredegonda” of 1878 (exhibited in 1880), where the dejected wife or mistress is watching from behind her curtain window the marriage of Chilperic I. with Galeswintha. It is perhaps in this series that we find the painter moved by the deepest feeling and the strongest spirit of romance. One of the most passionate of all is “Fredegonda at the Death-bed of Praetextatus,” in which the bishop, stabbed by order of the queen, is cursing her from his dying bed. Another distinct series is designed to reproduce the life of ancient Egypt. One of the first of this series, “Egyptians 3000 Years Ago,” was painted in 1863. A profound depth of pathos is sounded in “The Death of the Firstborn,” painted in 1873. Among Alma-Tadema’s other notable Egyptian pictures are “An Egyptian at his Doorway” (1865), “The Mummy” (1867), “The Chamberlain of Sesostris” (1869), “A Widow” (1873), and “Joseph, Overseer of Pharaoh’s Granaries” (1874). On these scenes from Frankish and Egyptian life Alma-Tadema spent great energy and research; but his strongest art-impulse was towards the presentation of the life of ancient Greece and Rome, especially the latter. Amongst the best known of his earlier pictures of scenes from classical times are “Tarquinius Superbus” (1867), “Phidias and the Elgin Marbles” (1868), and “The Pyrrhic Dance” and “The Wine Shop” (1869). “The Pyrrhic Dance,” though one of the simplest of his compositions, stands out distinctly from them all by reason of its striking movement. “Phidias and the Elgin Marbles” is the first of those glimpses of the art-life of classical times, of which “Hadrian in England,” “The Sculpture Gallery,” and “The Picture Gallery” are later examples. “The Wine Shop” is one of his many pictures of historical genre, but marked with a more robust humour than usual. In 1863 Alma-Tadema married a French lady, and lived at Brussels till 1869, when she died, leaving him a widower with two daughters, Laurence and Anna, both of whom afterwards made reputations—the former in literature, the latter in art. In 1869 he sent from Brussels to the Royal Academy two pictures, “Un Amateur romain” and “Une Danse pyrrhique,” which were followed by three pictures, including “Un Jongleur,” in 1870, when he came to London. By this time, besides his Dutch and Belgian distinctions, he had been awarded medals at the Paris Salon of 1864 and the Exposition Universelle of 1867. In 1871 he married Miss Laura Epps, an English lady of a talented family, who, under her married name, also won a high reputation as an artist. After his arrival in England Alma-Tadema’s career was one of continued success. Amongst the most important of his pictures during this period were “The Vintage Festival” (1870), “The Picture Gallery” and “The Sculpture Gallery” (1875), “An Audience at Agrippa’s” (1876), “The Seasons” (1877), “Sappho” (1881), “The Way to the Temple” (1883), his diploma work, “Hadrian in Britain” (1884), “The Apodyterium” (1886), “The Woman of Amphissa” (1887), “The Roses of Heliogabalus” (1888), “An Earthly Paradise” (1891), and “Spring” (1895). Most of his other pictures have been small canvasses of exquisite finish, like the “Gold-fish” of 1900. These, as well as all his works, are remarkable for the way in which flowers, textures and hard reflecting substances, like metals, pottery, and especially marble, are painted. His work shows much of the fine execution and brilliant colour of the old Dutch masters. By the human interest with which he imbues all his scenes from ancient life he brings them within the scope of modern feeling, and charms us with gentle sentiment and playful humour. He also painted some fine portraits. Alma-Tadema became a naturalized British subject in 1873, and was knighted on the occasion of Queen Victoria’s eighty-first birthday, 1899. He was made an associate of the Royal Academy in 1876, and a Royal Academician in 1879. In 1907 he was included in the Order of Merit. He became a knight of the order Pour le Mérite of Germany (Arts and Science Division): of Léopold, Belgium; of the Dutch Lion; of St Michael of Bavaria; of the Golden Lion of Nassau; and of the Crown of Prussia; an officer of the Legion of Honour, France; a member of the Royal Academies of Munich, Berlin, Madrid and Vienna. He received a gold medal at Berlin in 1872 and a grand medal at Berlin in 1874; a first class medal at the Paris International Exhibitions of 1889 and 1900. He also became a member of the Royal Society of Water-colours.
See also Georg Ebers, “Lorenz Alma-Tadema,” Westermann’s Monatshefte, November and December 1885, since republished in volume form; Helen Zimmern, “L. Alma-Tadema, his Life and Work,” Art Annual, 1886; C. Monkhouse, British Contemporary Artists (London, 1899).
ALME or Almai (from ālim, wise, learned), the name of a class of singing girls in Egypt who are present at festivals and entertainments, and act as hired mourners at funerals. They are to be distinguished from the ghawazee, or dancing girls, who perform in the public streets and are of a lower order.
ALMEIDA, DOM FRANCISCO DE (c. 1450–1510), the first
viceroy of Portuguese India, was born at Lisbon about the
middle of the 15th century. He was the seventh son of the
second count of Abrantes, and thus belonged to one of the most
distinguished families in Portugal. In his youth he took part
under Ferdinand of Aragon in the wars against the Moors (1485–1492).
In March 1505, having received from Emmanuel I. the
appointment of viceroy of the newly conquered territory in
India, he set sail from Lisbon in command of a large and powerful
fleet, and arrived in July at Quiloa (Kilwa), which yielded to
him almost without a struggle. A much more vigorous resistance
was offered by the Moors of Mombasa, but the town was taken
and destroyed, and its large treasures went to strengthen the
resources of Almeida. At other places on his way, such as the
island of Angediva, near Goa, and Cannanore, he built forts,
and adopted measures to secure the Portuguese supremacy.
On his arrival in India he took up his residence at Cochin, where
a Portuguese fort had been built by Alphonso d’Albuquerque
in 1503. The most important events of Almeida’s brief but
vigorous administration were the conclusion of a commercial
treaty with Malacca, and the discoveries made by his son
Lorenzo, who acted as his lieutenant. Lorenzo was probably
the first Portuguese who visited Ceylon, where he established a
settlement, and Fernando Soares, a captain commanding a
squadron of his fleet, appears to have been the first European
to sight Madagascar. In 1508 he was killed at Dabul in a naval
engagement with the Egyptians, who at this time endeavoured
to dispute Portuguese supremacy in the Indian Ocean. His
father was preparing to avenge his death when Albuquerque
(q.v.) arrived in Cochin, and presented a commission empowering
him to supersede Almeida in the government. It was probably
Almeida’s unwillingness to be thwarted in his scheme of vengeance
that chiefly induced him to refuse to recognize Albuquerque’s
commission, and to cast him into prison. The punishment he
inflicted on the Arabs and their Egyptian allies was speedy and
terrible. Sailing along the coast he pillaged and burned various
ports, including Goa and Dabul, and finally, encountering the
enemy’s combined fleet off Diu in February 1509, he completely
destroyed it. Returning immediately to Cochin, he held out for
a few months against the claims of Albuquerque, but in November
1509 he was compelled to yield. On the 1st of December he set
sail for Europe with an escort of three vessels. On the voyage
the fleet called at Table Bay, then known as Saldanha Bay, to
procure water, and here Almeida was killed (on the 1st of March
1510) in an attack upon the Hottentot natives, during which he
showed great personal courage. In this fight, which took place
on the site of Cape Town, 65 Portuguese perished, including 12
captains. Almeida’s body was recovered on the following day
and buried on the spot where he fell.
ALMEIDA, a town of north-eastern Portugal, in the district of Guarda and formerly included in the province of Beira; situated in hilly country between the river Côa, a tributary of
