img

The Roses of Heliogabalus depicts the young Roman emperor Elagabalus (203–222 CE) hosting a banquet, being swamped by drifts of pink rose petals falling from a false ceiling above. The youthful emperor, wearing a golden silk robe and tiara, watches the spectacle from a platform behind them, with other garlanded guests. A woman plays the double pipes beside a marble pillar in the background, wearing the leopard skin of a maenad, with a bronze statue of Dionysus, based on the Ludovisi Dionysus, in front of a view of distant hills.

Heliogabalus的玫瑰描绘了年轻的罗马皇帝Elagabalus（公元203-222年）举办的一场宴会，会场上，从屋顶假天花板上掉下来的粉红玫瑰花瓣淹没了宾客。这位年轻的皇帝穿着金色的丝绸长袍，带着头饰，半卧在客人身后的平台上，和其他有花环的客人一起观看了这场奇观。一名妇女在后面的大理石柱子旁边演奏着双管，她身穿梅纳德的豹纹裙，在她身边，是以卢多维西·狄俄尼索斯（Ludovisi Dionysus）为基础雕刻的狄俄尼索斯铜像，向雕像后方眺望，远处便是成片的山峦。

The painting depicts a (probably invented) episode taken from the Augustan History. Although the Latin refers to “violets and other flowers,” Alma-Tadema depicts Elagabalus smothering his unsuspecting guests with rose petals. The original reference is this: “In a banqueting-room with a reversible ceiling he once buried his guests in violets and other flowers, so that some were actually smothered to death, being unable to crawl out to the top.”

这幅画描绘了摘自奥古斯都历史的一部分（可能是杜撰）。尽管拉丁语提到的是“紫罗兰色和其他花朵”，但Alma-Tadema所描绘是Elagabalus用玫瑰花瓣窒息了他那些毫无戒心的客人。最初的参考是这样的：“在一个有可翻转天花板的宴会厅里，他曾经把客人们埋在紫罗兰和其他花朵中，使一些人被窒息而死，无法爬到山顶。”

The painting was commissioned by Sir John Aird in 1888. As roses were out of season in the United Kingdom, Alma-Tadema is reputed to have had rose petals sent from the south of France each week during the four months in which it was painted.

这幅画是约翰·艾尔德爵士（Sir John Aird）于1888年创作的。由于玫瑰在英国已经不合时宜，据说Alma-Tadema在创作的四个月中，每周都有从法国南部寄来的玫瑰花瓣。

Elagabalus（埃拉伽巴路斯）

他的本名为瓦瑞乌斯·阿维图斯·巴西安努斯（Varius Avitus Bassianus），登基之後改名为马尔库斯·奥瑞里乌斯·安东尼努斯（Marcus Aurelius Antoninus）。他是罗马帝国建立以来，第一位出身自帝国东方——叙利亚——的皇帝。在卡拉卡拉遇刺身亡後，政军情势纷扰不已，东方军团拥立这位流有塞维鲁王族血统的少年继位；218年，在战胜马克里努斯之後，埃拉伽巴路斯成为罗马帝国的皇帝。

——百度百科