Editing Lawrence Alma-Tadema (section)

===Personality===
[[File:Alma Tadema Spring.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Spring (Alma-Tadema painting)|Spring]]'' (1894), oil on canvas,179.2 × 80.3&nbsp;cm, J. Paul [[Getty Museum]], Los Angeles{{efn|The painting relates the Victorian custom of children collecting flowers on May Day back to an Ancient Roman spring festival, perhaps [[Cerealia]], [[Floralia]] or [[Ambarvalia]], although the details depicted in the painting do not correspond to any single Roman festival. It is one of Tadema's most famous and popular works, it took him four years to complete. The models for many of the participants and spectators were Tadema's friends and members of his family.<ref name = " Swanson 130">Swanson, ''Alma-Tadema'', p. 130</ref>}}]]

For all the quiet charm and erudition of his paintings, Alma-Tadema himself preserved a youthful sense of mischief. He was childlike in his practical jokes and in his sudden bursts of bad temper, which could as suddenly subside into an engaging smile. In his personal life, Alma-Tadema was an extrovert and had a warm personality. As a man, Lawrence Alma-Tadema was a robust, fun loving and rather portly gentleman. There was not a hint of the delicate artist about him; he was a cheerful lover of wine, women, and parties.<ref name = " Swanson 35">Swanson, '' Alma-Tadema'', p. 35.</ref> 

He has been said to have had most of the characteristics of a child, coupled with the traits of a consummate professional. A perfectionist, he remained in all respects a diligent, if somewhat obsessive and pedantic worker. He was an excellent businessman, and one of the wealthiest artists of the nineteenth century. Alma-Tadema was as firm in money matters as he was with the quality of his work.<ref name = " Swanson 34">Swanson, ''Alma-Tadema'', p. 34.</ref>