And the Sea Gave Up the Dead Which Were in It, exhibited 1892
Oil on canvas
H 228.6 x W 228.6 cm
Tate Britain
This is one of the most dramatic and powerful works, painted in the dark and solemn style of Leighton's late career. Leighton's tondo shows the resurrection of the dead, as described in the Book of Revelation: 'And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.' (Revelation 20:13) It is a terrifying yet essentially optimistic image, meditating on the theme of spiritual salvation.
The central group depicts a man, woman and child in various stages of 'awakening': 'The man is alive, his pulses are beating again, his flesh is reddening. His wife wears the greenish ghastly hue of death: his boy is breathing, but still pale and only half alive' (Edgcumbe Staley, quoted in Wilton & Upstone, p.259). All around them, the dead arise from newly-opened graves, some exposing their bodies to the light, others wrapped, mummy-like, in pale shrouds. More on this painting
Frederic Leighton
The Death of Brunelleschi, c. 1852
Oil, canvas
183 x 254 cm
Leighton House Museum
Leighton was keen on Brunelleschi's death by following the proceedings as they happened in a certain building in Florence. Filippo Brunelleschi was instrumental in the southern renaissance, a great figure in the architectural and civil engineering spheres.
In the foreground of the painting, there is a building located in Florence, whose view reveals the view of the dome of the cathedral. Brunelleschi is shown a semi-recumbent in extremis in a chair accompanied by an array of buildings in the painting’s background that are seemingly defy the correctness in the projection of perspective. More on this painting
Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton (1830–1896)
The Painter's Honeymoon, c. 1864
Oil on canvas
83.8 × 76.8 cm (32.9 × 30.2 in)
Museum of Fine Arts
In this romantic image, love is equated with art. In its evocation of the past and its precise, controlled style, the painting epitomizes the officially sanctioned academic practice of the late 19th century.
The Italian man who sat for the newly married painter occurs often in Leighton's work: he was apparently one of the artist's favorite models. Importantly, his hands are painted in fine detail, emphasizing how crucial they are to his work. The soft tones and accuracy with which Leighton painted the couple contrasts obviously with the harshness of the orange tree behind them. Leighton appears to have had difficulty in painting it – on close inspection, the oranges look as though they have been enameled. Generally, the composition and glowing color of the picture reflect the influence of such 16th-century Venetian painters as Giorgione and Titian. More on this painting
Frederic Leighton (1830–1896)
Mother and Child, c. 1865
Oil on canvas
H 48 x W 82 cm
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
Frederic, Lord Leighton
After Vespers, c. 1871
Oil on canvas
111.5 x 71.5 cm (43 7/8 x 28 1/8 in.)
Princeton University Art Museum
After Vespers epitomizes the delicacy and refinement that Leighton’s Victorian clients appreciated. The setting features mosaics evoking the interior of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. The painting’s subject, however, is less the magnificent sanctuary than an enigmatic young woman. Her gold earrings and beads mark her elevated social status, and she gently lifts her skirt to keep it off the dusty floor. Her melancholy expression hints, perhaps, at unrequited love. More on this painting
Frederic, Lord Leighton, P.R.A.
Portrait of Amy Augusta, Lady Coleridge, c. 1888
Oil on canvas
Private collection
Portrait of Amy Augusta Jackson, Lady Coleridge; almost full length, seated and directed to left, looking full face; holding and touch feathered fan on her lap; wearing corset and undergarments
The sitter was the daughter of Henry Baring Lawford of the Bengal Civil Service. She met the widowed Lord Coleridge on his return from a tour of America undertaken in 1883 as a guest of the New York Bar Association. They were married in London two years later. By then Lord Coleridge had risen to the very height of his profession, having been made Lord Chief Justice of England in 1880 by his friend Gladstone. The year this stunning portrait was exhibited he was presiding over the celebrated racing libel case Wood vs Cox. Three years later he famously called H.R.H. The Prince of Wales to the stand in the great Baccarat case, Gordon-Cummings vs. Wilson. More on this painting
Lord Frederic Leighton, British, b.1830, d.1896
Teresina, c. 1874
Oil on canvas board
604 x 495mm
Christchurch Gallery
A young Roman woman, Teresina, was first shown at the Royal Academy in 1876, and came to New Zealand for the Christchurch International Exhibition thirty years later. Its purchase by Canterbury Society of Arts was regarded as a notable coup.
Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton (1830–1896)
The Music Lesson, c. 1877
Oil on canvas
93 × 95 cm (36.6 × 37.4 in)
Guildhall Art Gallery
The architecture depicted in The Music Lesson is based on studies Leighton completed during his 1873 journey to Damascus. The costumes worn by the women were most likely made of luxe; lustrous fabrics purchased by the artist on this trip. The instrument, a Turkish ‘saz’, was probably his own. These non-Western elements provide an exoticising flair to the work. More on this painting
Catarina, c. 1878
Oil on canvas
Private collection
Catarina depicts an olive-skinned Italian model dressed in a traditional Campagna smock-shirt, with amber beads at her throat and jasmine flowers in her hair. The composition is beautifully simple, being free of all incidental detail or anecdotal association, nor is any information given about the identity or personality of the sitter.
Catarina lends itself to a purely aesthetic response, allowing the spectator to take delight in the softly-lit physiognomy, the colour of her blushed skin and pink lips reciprocated by the rich colouring and sfumato of her hair and the background. More on this painting
Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton (1830–1896)
Light of the Harem, circa 1880
Oil on canvas
60 x 32 7/8 inches (152.4 x 83.8 cm)
Private collection
The Light of the Harem was painted in 1880 and depicts a woman arranging a scarf of Damascus silk around her hair while looking into a mirror held by a younger girl. It was one of the first appearances of Leighton's most celebrated model, Ada Alice Pullan who was known by her stage-name, Dorothy Dene. The model for the younger girl is sometimes identified as Connie Gilchrist, a girl who had been 'discovered' as she worked as a skipping-rope dancer at the Gaiety Theatre and who later became Countess Orkney. More on this painting
FREDERIC, LORD LEIGHTON, P.R.A. 1830 - 1896
A NILE WOMAN
Oil on canvas
56 by 30.5cm., 22 by 12in.
Private collection
Leighton went to Egypt in 1868, the year before the opening of the Suez canal. He travelled as far south as Aswan and painted over forty landscapes. The viceroy Ismail Pasha placed a steamer at Leighton's disposal, probably on the recommendation of Edward, Prince of Wales who was given the present picture - perhaps in thanks for his introduction.
Leighton cleverly captured the heat of the last light of the day as the solitary Egyptian woman makes her way home through the sand. The careful rendering of her robes is typical of Leighton and the pose of a woman carrying a water-jar appears in several important later works by the artist, including Captive Andromache of 1886 (See below). More on this painting
Leighton was the bearer of the shortest-lived peerage in history; after only one day his hereditary peerage became extinct upon his death
Frederic Leighton had two sisters including Alexandra who was Robert Browning's biographer. He was educated at University College School, London. He then received his artistic training on the European continent. At age 17, in the summer of 1847, he met the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer in Frankfurt and drew his portrait, in graphite and gouache on paper — the only known full-length study of Schopenhauer done from life. When he was 24 he was in Florence; he studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti, and painted the procession of the Cimabue Madonna through the Borgo Allegri. From 1855 to 1859 he lived in Paris, where he met Ingres, Delacroix, Corot and Millet.
The idea of a heroic male nude struggling with a python came to Leighton as he was working on his huge canvas of the 'Daphnephoria' (now in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, UK). He was making clay models of some of his figures in the painting to help work out the composition, so he modelled this figure in clay as well. The figure was studied from life.
Frederic, Lord Leighton 1830 - 1896
Cimabue's Celebrated Madonna is carried in Procession through the Streets of Florence, c. 1853-5
Oil on canvas
222 x 521 cm
Royal Collection
The picture shows a scene from the 16th century art historian Giorgio Vasari's description of the 13th century procession of an altarpiece of the Madonna and Child through the streets of Florence. The Madonna is being carried from the studio of the Florentine artist Cimabue to the church of Santa Maria Novella. Cimabue himself is depicted immediately in front of the Madonna wearing a laurel wreath upon his head. He is followed by a group including several leading Florentine artistic figures of the day, including his pupil Giotto, the poet Dante Alighieri (leaning on the wall at right), the architect Arnolfo di Cambio, the painters Gaddo Gaddi, Andrea Tafi, Buonamico Buffalmacco and Simone Memmi; the sculptor Nicola Pisano, and on horseback at the right edge of the image, the King of Naples, Charles of Anjou. More on this painting
The Madonna depicted, seen at a very narrow angle in the centre of the painting, is actually not by Cimabue, but instead it is the Rucellai Madonna by Sienese artist Duccio di Buoninsegna.
This was Leighton's first major work, painted in Rome. It was shown at the Academy in 1855. It was an immediate success, and Queen Victoria bought it for 600 guineas on opening day. More on this painting
Lord Leighton PRA (1830 - 1896)
St Jerome, c. 1869
Oil on canvas
1845 mm x 1420 mm x 40 mm
Royal Academy of Arts
Jerome (Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus, c. 347 – 30 September 420) was a priest, confessor, theologian and historian. He was the son of Eusebius, born at Stridon, a village near Emona on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia, then part of northeastern Italy. He is best known for his translation of most of the Bible into Latin (the translation that became known as the Vulgate), and his commentaries on the Gospels. His list of writings is extensive.
The protégé of Pope Damasus I, who died in December of 384, Jerome was known for his teachings on Christian moral life, especially to those living in cosmopolitan centers such as Rome. In many cases, he focused his attention to the lives of women and identified how a woman devoted to Jesus should live her life. This focus stemmed from his close patron relationships with several prominent female ascetics who were members of affluent senatorial families.
He is recognised as a Saint and Doctor of the Church by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Lutheran Church, and the Anglican Communion. His feast day is 30 September. More on Jerome
Frederic, Lord Leighton 1830–1896
An Athlete Wrestling with a Python, c. 1877
Bronze
1746 × 984 × 1099 mm, 290 kg
Tate
The idea of a heroic male nude struggling with a python came to Leighton as he was working on his huge canvas of the 'Daphnephoria' (now in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, UK). He was making clay models of some of his figures in the painting to help work out the composition, so he modelled this figure in clay as well. The figure was studied from life.
Leighton looked to antiquity for inspiration, to the perfectly poised and proportioned male nude of Greek sculpture, and invested it with a new vitality achieved through close attention not only to the skeletal and muscular structure of the body, but even to such details as veins. More on this sculpture
This is the earlier of Frederic Leighton’s only two life-size sculptures. In subject and scale it was intended as a challenge to one of the greatest classical sculptures, The Laocoön, which shows three men being crushed by sea serpents. More on this sculpture
In 1860, he moved to London, where he associated with the Pre-Raphaelites. He designed Elizabeth Barrett Browning's tomb for Robert Browning in the English Cemetery, Florence in 1861. In 1864 he became an associate of the Royal Academy and in 1878 he became its President (1878–96). His 1877 sculpture, Athlete Wrestling with a Python (See above), was considered at its time to inaugurate a renaissance in contemporary British sculpture, referred to as the New Sculpture. American art critic Earl Shinn claimed at the time that "Except Leighton, there is scarce any one capable of putting up a correct frescoed figure in the archway of the Kensington Museum." His paintings represented Britain at the great 1900 Paris Exhibition.
Frederic, Lord Leighton, P.R.A.
Venus and Cupid
Oil on canvas
Private Collection
Cupid is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the war god Mars, and is known in Latin also as Amor (. His Greek counterpart is Eros. More on Venus and Cupid
Venus and Cupid represents Leighton’s first foray in painting the nude. Works such as The Bath of Psyche (See below) demonstrate Leighton’s continued exploration of the subject, and his influence on its a resurgence in British. More on this painting
Frederic Leighton (1830–1896)
The Fisherman and the Syren, 1856–1858
Oil on canvas
H 66.4 x W 48.9 cm
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
This early work both illustrated and was inspired by a poem by Goethe, which tells the story of a mermaid who rises from the waters to complain to a fisherman that he is enticing her children to death. Gradually the mermaid's own beauty lures the fisherman into the water and to oblivion. A contemporary critic noted the 'irresistible seductiveness' of the mermaid but he observed also that this 'young artist has plainly drunk long and eagerly at the fount of beauty that assuaged the thirst of Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael'. It was in exactly that spirit that Leighton was to be so much admired. More on this painting
Frederic, Lord Leighton, P.R.A.
Venus Disrobing for the Bath, c. 1867
Oil on canvas
Private collection
From the late 1860s onward, nudes were an important part of Leighton's oeuvre, with Venus Disrobing a portender of the art world's appreciation of the body alone as a beautiful object. More on this painting
Frederic Leighton
Actaea, the Nymph of the Shore, c. 1868
Oil on canvas
57.2 x 102.2 cm
National Gallery of Canada
In Greek mythology, Actaea was one of the Nereids or sea nymphs, the fifty daughters of the sea god Nereus, who lived in the Aegean. She is portrayed watching her dolphin companions from the shore. Such classical references allowed the Victorians to accept this erotic image. The distant coastline is one that the artist recorded while visiting Rhodes in 1867. More on this painting
Frederic Leighton
Icarus and Daedalus, c.1869
Oil on canvas
138.2 x 106.5 cm
The Faringdon Collection
In Greek mythology, Icarus was the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth. Icarus and Daedalus attempt to escape from Crete by means of wings that Daedalus constructed from feathers and wax. Daedalus warns Icarus first of complacency and then of hubris, instructing him to fly neither too low nor too high, lest the sea's dampness clog his wings or the sun's heat melt them. Icarus ignores Daedalus’s instructions not to fly too close to the sun, causing the wax in his wings to melt. He tumbles out of the sky, falls into the sea, and drowns. More on Icarus and Daedalus
Hercules Wrestling with Death for the Body of Alcestis
Oil on canvas
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
The artworks Hercules wrestling with death over the body of Alcestis portrayed a story about the Hercules and the wife of Admetus who was ready to sacrifice her life for the sake of her husband. Admetus' wife knew that her husband really had angered Artemis but she was willing to sacrifice in order for her husband the king to live. The moment Admetus' wife died, Hercules arrived as a guest in the palace and he didn’t wait but goes on and wrestle with the death over the body of Admetus' wife and shockingly, Hercules was able to win her back. More on this painting
Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton (1830–1896)
Nausicaa, circa 1879
Oil on canvas
Height: 57 in (144.7 cm); Width: 26.3 in (66.9 cm)
Private collection
Nausicaa was a female character in Greek mythology, who appeared in the Homeric epic Odyssey. She was the daughter of King Alcinous and Queen Arete of Phaeacia. In the Odyssey, the ship of Odysseus was destroyed and washed ashore on the island of Phaeacia. On the shore, Nausicaa and her handmaidens washed their clothes, and the shipwrecked hero was awoken by their laughter and games. He appeared in front of them without wearing any clothes, and asked for help; the handmaidens ran off scared, but Nausicaa offered him some clothes and brought him to the edge of the town. There, she told him that she would go first, so people wouldn't see her walking with a stranger, and that he should then go straight to her father's palace, and speak to her mother first. Odysseus indeed went and spoke to Arete, won her trust, and was accepted as a guest at Alcinous' home. He recounted his numerous adventures and after a few days, Alcinous offered him the necessary ships in order to reach his final destination, More on Nausicaa
Frederic Leighton (1830–1896)
Captive Andromache, c.1888
Oil on canvas
H 197 x W 407 cm
Manchester Art Gallery
Girls and women dressed in flowing drapery process from the left along a raised stone walkway on their way to collect water from a high rectangular well on the right. In the centre stands Andromache, a woman draped in black, her face, neck and foot just visible. She looks pensively towards a family group at the bottom right, where a baby sits on its mothers knee and touches its fathers face. To the front left are two men in deep maroon robes holding wooden staffs, one of whom wears a red cap and gestures with his thumb towards Andromache. A partially draped man in the foreground with his back to the viewer also carries a staff and looks towards her. In the bottom left corner sits an old woman who is spinning. She too gazes at Andromache. A mountainous landscape framed by trees is visible behind Andromache. More on this painting
In Greek mythology, Andromache was the wife of Hector, daughter of Eetion, and sister to Podes. The name means 'man battler' or 'fighter of men.
During the Trojan War, after Hector was killed by Achilles and the city taken by the Greeks, the Greek herald Talthybius informed her of the plan to kill Astyanax, her son by Hector, by throwing him from the city walls. This act was carried out by Neoptolemus who then took Andromache as a concubine and Hector's brother, Helenus, as a slave. When Neoptolemus died, Andromache married Helenus and became Queen of Epirus. In Epirus Andromache faithfully continued to make offerings at Hector’s cenotaph. Andromache eventually went to live with her youngest son, Pergamus in Pergamum, where she died of old age. Andromache was famous for her fidelity and virtue; her character represents the suffering of Trojan women during war. More on Andromache
Frederic, Lord Leighton
The Bath of Psyche, exhibited 1890
Oil paint on canvas
1892 × 622 mm
Tate
Psyche's beauty was so great that no man dared to approach her as a suitor. An oracle told her parents to dress her for marriage and sacrifice her, but she was transported instead to the golden palace of Cupid, the god of love. She lived there in a blissful state, waited on by slaves, and each night Cupid would make love to her, but without his identity being revealed. He later abandoned Psyche when, encouraged by her jealous sisters, she gazed on his sleeping form by the light of a lamp and inadvertently dropped hot oil on his body.
The painting shows Psyche undressing herself in order to bathe before Cupid's arrival. She is completely self-absorbed, and her narcissism is emphasised by her reflection, captured in the smooth surface of the water. The woman's pose, with arms raised to reveal her naked body, derives more specifically from the Callipygian Venus, a famous Greek statue that Leighton would have seen in the Capodimonte Museum in Naples. More on this painting
Frederic, Lord Leighton
Perseus and Andromeda
Oil on canvas
235 x 129.2 x 12 cm
National Museums Liverpool
Perseus and his mission to kill the Medusa was one of the most renowned ancient legends in the Victorian era. Perseus, the son of Danaë and Zeus, was ordered to fetch the head of the Gorgon Medusa, whose magical power caused all who saw it to be turned to stone.
Perseus is shown riding here on a winged horse, carrying the Medusa’s head. He has come to the rescue of Andromeda, who is chained to a rock as sacrifice to Poseidon, God of the Sea. Leighton has infused drama in the scene. Perseus’s arrow has just struck the dragon whose body continues to ensnare Andromeda. More on this painting
Leighton was knighted at Windsor in 1878, and was created a baronet, of Holland Park Road in the Parish of St Mary Abbots, Kensington, in the County of Middlesex, eight years later. He was the first painter to be given a peerage, in the 1896 New Year Honours. The patent creating him Baron Leighton, of Stretton in the County of Shropshire, was issued on 24 January 1896; Leighton died the next day of angina pectoris.
The scene opens early on Wednesday morning. The Nurse enters Juliet's room and discovers her seemingly lifeless body on the bed. The Nurse tries to wake her, but believing her to be dead, cries out to the family in desperation. The Capulets, Friar Laurence, and Paris enter the room in response to the Nurse's cries. They dramatically mourn Juliet's loss while the Friar maintains his deception by offering words of support about Divine Will, comforting the family by expressing the belief that Juliet is in heaven. He then arranges for Juliet's body to be taken to the family vault. Capulet orders that the wedding preparations be changed to funeral preparations. More on The feigned death of Juliet
On his death his barony was extinguished after existing for only a day; this is a record in the Peerage. His house in Holland Park, London has been turned into a museum, the Leighton House Museum. A blue plaque commemorates Leighton at Leighton House Museum. More on Frederic Leighton
Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton (1830–1896)
The feigned death of Juliet, c. from 1856 until 58
Oil on canvas
Height: 113.60 mm (4.47 in); Width: 175.20 mm (6.89 in)
Art Gallery of South Australia
Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton (1830–1896)
Greek Girls Picking up Pebbles by the Sea, c. 1871
Oil on canvas
84 x 130 cm
The Pérez Simón Collection, Mexico
On his death his barony was extinguished after existing for only a day; this is a record in the Peerage. His house in Holland Park, London has been turned into a museum, the Leighton House Museum. A blue plaque commemorates Leighton at Leighton House Museum. More on Frederic Leighton
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