it is working in my google chrome browser version 11.0.696.60
I created a simple page with no other items just basic tags and no separate CSS file and got an image
this is what i setup:
<div id="placeholder" style="width: 60px; height: 60px; border: 1px solid black; background-image: url('http://www.mypicx.com/uploadimg/1312875436_05012011_2.png')"></div>
I put an id just in case there was a hidden id tag and it works