After the Dance

Date created: 1876

The picture shows a Roman interior, with a portion of the atrium and a peep into the court beyond. Two figures, a boy and a girl, recline on cushions, one sitting and the other languidly stretched on the tesselated pavement with a tambourine alongside. In the distance a group of minstrels on the extreme left complete the composition... There is no pretence of archaeological display, nor any highly-wrought detail, or accessories introduced for the mere mastery of textures...'
(J.A. Blaikie, 'J W Waterhouse, ARA', The Magazine of Art, 1886, p.3)

'...two Greek girls, gracefully draped, resting themselves in the atrium of the house wherein they have been dancing. The colouring is quiet, and yet not without a certain richness, the prevailing tints being yellow, green, brown and grey. One girl lies on her back, the other sits at her side...'
(The Art Journal, Vol XV, 1876, p 216)