The Favourites of the Emperor Honorius

The Favourites of the Emperor Honorius, painted in 1883 and now at the Art Gallery of South Australia, depicts the Western Roman Emperor Honorius (r. 395–423 CE), who ruled during the catastrophic period when Rome was sacked by Alaric and the Gothic forces in 410 CE. Honorius was notorious in ancient and modern historiography for his apparent indifference to the collapse of his empire, retreating to his court at Ravenna where he occupied himself with favourites — people and perhaps domestic animals (ancient sources mention his fondness for a chicken named Roma) — while the empire disintegrated. Waterhouse constructs an image of imperial complacency that invites a political reading: the gorgeous, pampered court life contrasting with the off-canvas catastrophe of imperial collapse.

The late Roman court setting gives Waterhouse rich material: elaborate mosaics, gilded furnishings, sumptuous textiles, and the architectural opulence of Ravenna's imperial aesthetic. The composition must balance the visual splendour of the court with the thematic suggestion of decadence and political vacancy. Figures in elaborate dress surround the Emperor in an arrangement that signals ceremony without purpose.