Lawrence Alma-Tadema
Lawrence Alma-Tadema is famous for depicting scenes of Ancient Rome and Greece; his paintings evoked a sense of decadence and luxury. This one depicts three aristocratic women looking down at a harbor below. The painting's title, Coign of Vantage, literally means a favorable position for observing.
The artist became particularly renowned for his skill in recreating marble. The balcony is highly realistic and demonstrates Alma Tadema's ability to create tactile paintings using color to represent the differing effects of light on various surfaces. The sea and sky merge seamlessly by the way he blended the shades of blue. The artist used rich colors to draw attention to the floral details in the women's headdresses and the garland draped on the statue.
What a BLUE! This color left me breathless.
P.S. Alma-Tadema became famous for his depictions of the luxury and decadence of the Roman Empire, for example, this literal rain of roses during one of the parties held by the Emperor Heliogabalus!