Rose Petal Rainstorm

"What a lovely thing a rose is!"

Arthur Conan Doyle (author)

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There’s a party in full swing over at Emperor Elagabalus’ handsome palace somewhere in the Roman empire. The lounging emperor, dressed in a shiny golden robe, is surveying the room from his elevated perch. Some of his guests seem to be splashing around in rose petals.

But are they really having a good time?

Lawrence Alma-Tadema, "The Roses of Heliogabalus", 1888, 4.36 x 7 ft, private collection, Mexico.
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Probably not. As the petals continue to descend, the partiers begin to disappear beneath them. In fact, it looks like they might soon be buried alive.

Entitled The Roses of Heliogabalus, this decadent and sinister scene was painted by the 19th century Dutch artist Lawrence Alma-Tadema. It is directly inspired by a chilling tale from the Augustan History, a collection of stories about the lives of Roman emperors.

According to one (perhaps fictional) account, Emperor Elagabalus caused an abundance of violets to tumble down onto his guests from above. As they suffocated beneath the falling flowers, the cruel sovereign and his pals looked on in enjoyment. What a jerk!

Lawrence Alma-Tadema, "Self-Portrait", 1896, Florence.
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In his version of the tale, Alma-Tadema replaced violets with rose petals to reinforce the contrast between the beauty of the scene and its sadistic character. He diligently studied artefacts from ancient Rome in order to properly reproduce them in his paintings. For months, he had flowers from the French Riviera sent to his doorstep so that he could convincingly recreate them on canvas.

Why represent such a morbid moment at all? The artist was passionate about recreating stories from antiquity, interested more in their beauty than in their symbolism. A real fan of the period, perhaps he couldn’t help seeing history through rose-colored glasses.