The painters Lourens Alma Tadema and Hendrik Willem Mesdag were second cousins and good friends. When Mesdag decided to become a painter, Alma Tadema helped him on his way.
Even though Alma Tadema had moved to London, the cousins still kept in close contact. The Mesdags owned a number of paintings by Lourens Alma Tadema, his wife Laura Theresa Epps and her sister Ellen Epps.
The collection was on display in Alma Tadema and Mesdag: Two Artist Families.
