This and the following lot belong to a group of studies of the interiors of Pompeian houses which Waterhouse made in 1876. His art at this time was deeply influenced by Alma-Tadema, and it is no coincidence that Tadema himself had visited Pompeii in 1863, gathering source material for the architectural settings of his classical subjects. Waterhouse's own paintings soon betrayed his experience; At Pompeii, a picture included in his studio sale at Christie's (23 July 1926, lot 90), was executed circa 1877, and was followed by A Pompeian Shop, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1880 (no. 504). More generally, the impact of Pompeii is seen in such contemporary figure subjects as A Sick Child brought into the Temple of Aesculapius (R.A. 1877; private collection); The Remorse of Nero after the Murder of his Mother (R.A. 1878), Dolce far Niente (1880; Kirkaldy Museum and Art Gallery) and The Favourites of the Emperor Honorius (R.A. 1883; Art Gallery of South Australia, Australia, Adelaide).