This scene depicts a Royal Court, where a Nubian ambassador – dressed in white – is entertained by a dancer and musicians. To his right sits the host, a priest called Phtames, a scribe to the god Ptah at Memphis.

The subject of this painting was suggested to the artist by a wall painting he saw during a visit to the British Museum in 1862.

Many of Alma-Tadema’s paintings offer a glimpse into the ancient past. He used historical sources and the most up-to-date archaeological findings when researching his paintings. The harp in the painting is drawn from an example he saw at the Louvre, in Paris, and the chairs from the British Museum.