29 Works, December 14th. is Károly Lotz's day, his art, illustrated with footnotes #250

Károly Lotz, (1833, Homburg vor der Höhe - 1904, Budapest)

Dobozy and his Wife, c. 1880s

Oil on cardboard

22.4 × 28.3 cm

Hungarian National Gallery

According to contemporary writings, Mihály Dobozi was most likely a noble soldier from Doboz who participated in the Battle of Marót, where Hungarian army formed of serfs and the local gentry fleeing the Turkish invaders entrenched themselves in a cart fortress in a small settlement in the Gerecse Valley. The cart camp was captured by the Turks, and the resisters were put to the sword.

Mihály Dobozi cut himself out of the enemy's ring and, grabbing his wife, Ilona Farmosi, onto his horse, fled. When the pursuing Turkish horsemen almost caught up with the couple, at the behest of his wife not to fall into the hands of the enemy and to save his wife's honor, he stabbed his beloved, and he himself turned to face the Turks, who slaughtered him. More on Michael Dobozi

Lotz Károly Antal Pál, or Karl Anton Paul Lotz (16 December 1833 – 13 October 1904) was a German-Hungarian painter.

Károly Lotz, (1833, Homburg vor der Höhe - 1904, Budapest)

Stud in a Thunderstorm, c. 1862

Oil on canvas

126,5 x 191,5 cm

Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest

This is a herd of mares, foals and young horses which are traditionally kept on the Hungarian puszta, and belonging to one of the many studs. The herdsman is usually mounted, but here he is without a horse. His dog stays close to him. Two groups of horses gather around the waterpump. On the background at the right, a troika is arriving, maybe to pick up the herdsman. More on this painting

On returning home from Vienna where he had studied, the young Lotz looked at the Hungarian landscape and people with a fresh eye. His observations were way ahead of his age. Although his paintings depicting the landscape of the Great Hungarian Plains during a  storm were still rooted in Romanticism, their emotional charge, variegated compositional methods and, most of all, their realistic colours justified Lotz's personal ambitions. 

"Stud in a Thunderstorm", painted in 1862, is an excellent example of these qualities. His depiction of the clouds whirling in the depth of the space, his felicitous rendering of the horses and his ability to capture the feeling and unique world of the people of the flatlands could not be matched by any of his contemporaries. More on this painting

Károly Lotz  (1833–1904)

Storm (Storm in the Puszta), circa 1862

Oil on cardboard

Height: 16 cm (6.2 in); Width: 24 cm (9.4 in)

Private collection

Károly Lotz, (1833, Homburg vor der Höhe - 1904, Budapest)

Twilight, c. 1870

Oil on canvas

47,5 x 61 cm

Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest

Lotz studied in Vienna under Karl Rahl and his works show the effect of the great Renaissance masters, Raphael in particular. In the early phase of his art he did some significant representations of native scenery such as the Great Hungarian Plain and the life of the peasants.

The setting sun hidden behind a cloud lights up the landscape of the plain, catching the shepherd and his herd in the foreground and the gleaming surface of the water. The bucolic atmosphere of landscape, the little cottage in the trees in the background and the silence of Nature preparing for rest give great intimacy to this painting by Lotz. More on this painting

Karoly Lotz

Resting shepherds

Oil on canvas

20x30 cm

Private collection

Károly Lotz, (1833, Homburg vor der Höhe - 1904, Budapest)

Peasants Dancing, c. 1860

Oil on canvas

Height: 94.5 cm; Width: 125.5 cm

Hungarian National Gallery

Lotz was born in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany, the 7th and youngest surviving child of Wilhelm Christian Lotz and Antonia Höfflick. His father was a valet of Prince Gustav zu Hessen-Homburg at the time when the prince was representing Austria at the Congress of Vienna, which among other matters dealt with the House of Hessen-Homburg's rights of sovereignty over Hessen-Darmstadt. The sudden death of the young Baron von Sinclair, chargé d'affaires, forced W. C. Lotz temporarily into the rôle. While in Hungary in 1815 he made the acquaintance of the 13-year-old Antonie Hoefflich, whom he married three years later. She gave birth to 8 children, of whom Karl was the youngest.

Károly Lotz, (1833, Homburg vor der Höhe - 1904, Budapest)

Hussar Officers at Camp, c. 1857

Oil on canvas

106 x 171 cm

Historical Picture Gallery, Hungarian National Museum, Budapest

In the center of the painting Count József Bethlen can be seen on the white horse. At his left Count István Esterházy holding his sword and Baron Frigyes Podmaniczky with cigar. Behind the white horse stands Count Dénes Almásy. More on this painting

Count József Bethlen became Prince of Transylvania from 1613 to 1629 and Duke of Opole from 1622 to 1625. He was also King-elect of Hungary from 1620 to 1621, but he never took control of the whole kingdom. Bethlen, supported by the Ottomans, led his Calvinist principality against the Habsburgs and their Catholic allies. More on Gabriel Bethlen

Count István Esterházy de Galántha was a member of the wealthy Hungarian Esterházy family, eldest son of Palatine Nicholas Esterházy.

His father received the title of Count in 1626 by Emperor-King Ferdinand II, therefore his descendants also could make use of title. Count István died in 1641, when his father was still alive. His younger brother Ladislaus became head of the family in 1645. More on Count István Esterházy

W. C. Lotz died in 1837 and Antonie moved the family to Budapest. Karl attended the Piaristengymnasium, where, although Calvinist, he was awarded a scholarship for his exceptional academic performance. He began his artistic career as a pupil of the Hofkapellmeister Destouches, then in the academy of the Venetian master Jakab Marastoni (1804–1860). Later he was a pupil of the historical painters Henrik Weber (1818–1866) in Budapest and Carl Rahl (1812–1865) in Vienna.

Karoly Lotz

Venus (Kornélia)

Kornélia Lotz was the artist's wife

Oil on cardboard

65 x 25 cm

Private collection

Estimated for 14 644 EUR - 21 966 EUR in Dec 2016

Károly Lotz, (1833, Homburg vor der Höhe - 1904, Budapest)

Amor and Psyche, c. 1902

Oil on canvas

142 x 112 cm

Private collection

Cupid and Psyche is a story originally from Metamorphoses, written in the 2nd Century AD by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis. It concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between Psyche and Cupid, and their ultimate union in a sacred marriage. Although the only extended narrative from antiquity is that of Apuleius, Eros and Psyche appear in Greek art as early as the 4th century BC. The story's Neoplatonic elements and allusions to mystery religions accommodate multiple interpretations, and it has been analyzed as an allegory and in light of folktale, Märchen or fairy tale, and myth. More on Cupid and Psyche

Karoly Lotz

Temptation (Leda)

Oil on canvas

40 x 24 cm

Private collection

Estimated for 3 417 EUR - 5 370 EUR in Oct 2023

Leda, in Greek legend, usually believed to be the daughter of Thestius, king of Aetolia, and wife of Tyndareus, king of Lacedaemon. She was also believed to have been the mother (by Zeus, who had approached and seduced her in the form of a swan) of the other twin, Pollux, and of Helen, both of whom hatched from eggs. Variant legends gave divine parentage to both the twins and possibly also to Clytemnestra, with all three of them having hatched from the eggs of Leda, while yet other legends say that Leda bore the twins to her mortal husband, Tyndareus. Still other variants say that Leda may have hatched out Helen from an egg laid by the goddess Nemesis, who was similarly approached by Zeus in the form of a swan.The divine swan’s encounter with Leda was a subject depicted by both ancient Greek and Italian Renaissance artists; Leonardo da Vinci undertook a painting (now lost) of the theme, and Correggio’s Leda (c. 1530s) is a well-known treatment of the subject. More on Leda and The Swan

Karoly Lotz

Triumphant Neptune, c. 1892

Oil on canvas

75 x 176,5 cm

Private collection

Sold for  €22,222 EUR in Dec 2017

Neptune is the god of freshwater and the sea in Roman religion. He is the counterpart of the Greek god Poseidon. In the Greek tradition, Neptune is the brother of Jupiter and Pluto; the brothers preside over the realms of heaven, the earthly world, and the underworld. Salacia is his wife.

Depictions of Neptune in Roman mosaics, especially those in North Africa, were influenced by Hellenistic conventions. Neptune was likely associated with freshwater springs before the sea. Like Poseidon, Neptune was also worshipped by the Romans as a god of horses as Neptunus Equester (a patron of horse-racing). More on Neptune

Karoly Lotz

Niobe with her Children, c. 1884

Oil on canvas

78 x 47 cm

Private collection

Estimated for €2,000 EUR - €4,000 EUR in Jun 2016

This oil painting shows a mythological scene from Ovid's Metamorphoses. It is a study for a fresco in the auditorium of the Opera House in Budapest (1884). The depiction illustrates the dramatic killing of Niobe’s sons and daughters. The wife of the Theban king Amphion was so proud of her many children (seven sons and seven daughters ) that she dared to surpass the Titan Leto, whereupon Leto asked her son and daughter, Apollo and Arthemis , to kill the sons and daughters of Niobe with bow and arrow in one day. In the opera literature, the subject of Niobe is often quoted, which testifies to the connection of the present study. In his mythological topics, Károly Lotz oriented to the masters of the Venetian Baroque, such as Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. Thus, it is primarily the dramatizing baroque language that Lotz overtook in his works. More on this painting

Karoly Lotz

Venus and Cupid

Oil on wood

20*12 cm

Private collection

Venus and Love/ Venus and Cupid. Different tales exist about the origin of Venus and Cupid. Some say that Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, had a love affair with Mars, the god of war. Out of this relationship, Cupid was born. 

Cupid has attributes from both of his parents. Like his mother he is considered to be the god of love, or more precisely, the god of falling in love. He is portrayed as an innocent little child with bow and arrows. He shoots arrows to the heart, and awakening a love that you’re powerless to resist.

Venus and Cupid are often shown in intimate poses, reflecting the unique love between mother and child. More on Venus and Love

Karoly Lotz

Thalia, c. 1880

Oil, canvas

180x108 cm 

Private collection

In Greek mythology, a Charis or Grace is one of three or more minor goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity, and fertility, together known as the Charites or Graces. The usual list, from youngest to oldest is Aglaea ("Splendor"), Euphrosyne ("Mirth"), and Thalia ("Good Cheer"). In Roman mythology they were known as the Gratiae, the "Graces". In some variants, Charis was one of the Graces and was not the singular form of their name.

The Charites were usually considered the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, though they were also said to be daughters of Dionysus and Aphrodite or of Helios and the naiad Aegle. Other possible names of their mother by Zeus are Eurydome, Eurymedousa, and Euanthe. Homer wrote that they were part of the retinue of Aphrodite. The Charites were also associated with the Greek underworld and the Eleusinian Mysteries.

The river Cephissus near Delphi was sacred to them. More Three Graces

Károly Lotz  (1833–1904)

Sappho (Contemplation), circa 1880

Oil on canvas

Height: 94 cm (37 in); Width: 74 cm (29.1 in)

Private collection

Sappho (c. 630 – c. 570 BC) was an archaic Greek poet from the island of Lesbos. Sappho's poetry was lyric poetry, and she is best known for her poems about love. 

Little is known of Sappho's life. She was from a wealthy family from Lesbos. Ancient sources say that she had three brothers; the names of two of them are mentioned in the Brothers Poem discovered in 2014. She was exiled to Sicily around 600 BC, and may have continued to work until around 570.

Sappho's poetry was well-known and greatly admired through much of antiquity, and she was among the nine lyric poets deemed major by scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria. Today, Sappho's poetry is still considered extraordinary, and her works have continued to influence other writers up until the modern day. Outside of academic circles, she is perhaps best known as a symbol of same-sex desire, particularly between women.  More on Sappho

Károly Lotz Homburg von der Höhe Lotz

The Muse

Oil on wood

21 × 14.8 cm

Private collection

Muse, in Greco-Roman religion and mythology, any of a group of sister goddesses of obscure but ancient origin, in Boeotia, Greece. They were born in Pieria, at the foot of Mount Olympus. Very little is known of their cult, but they had a festival every four years at Thespiae. They probably were originally the patron goddesses of poets, although later their range was extended to include all liberal arts and sciences—hence, their connection with such institutions as the Museum (Mouseion, seat of the Muses) at Alexandria, Egypt. There were nine Muses as early as Homer’s Odyssey, and Homer invokes either a Muse or the Muses collectively from time to time. More on Muses

Together with Rahl he worked on numerous commissions. Later he started on his own original works, first as a romantic landscape artist in scenes of the Alföld (the Hungarian lowland plain), and then as a creator of monumental murals and frescos in the style of the Venetian master Tiepolo.

Károly Lotz (Hungarian, 1833–1904)

Outlaw

Oil on board

20.5 x 11.5 cm. (8.1 x 4.5 in.)

Private collection

Estimated for  Ft600,000 HUF - Ft800,000 HUF in Dec 2019

Károly Lotz (Hungarian, 1833–1904)

Outlaws

Oil on canvas

28 x 41 cm. (11 x 16.1 in.)

Private collection

Estimated for 240,000 HUF in Dec 2015

Károly Lotz Homburg von der Höhe Lotz

Galloping Outlaw, c. 1857

Oil on canvas

Height: 58.0 cm; Width: 92.0 cm

Hungarian National Gallery 

After various works in Budapest he became active in Vienna. He laid out plans for a grandiose palace, and completed murals commissioned by the Abbot of Tihany Abbey for his abbey church on the shore of Lake Balaton. He became known for his portraits and nudes, for which both his wife and his daughters posed. Lotz found married bliss only at the age of 58, when he married the widow Jacoboy, the former wife of his brother Paul Johann Heinrich, who had died in 1828. From then on he signed his works Károly Jacoboy-Lotz.

Károly Lotz, (1833, Homburg vor der Höhe - 1904, Budapest)

Portrait of Kornélia Lotz, c. 1890s

Kornélia Lotz was the artist's wife

Oil on canvas

68,5 x 55,5 cm

Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest

Károly Lotz  (1833–1904)

Madonna with Kornélia Lotz

Kornélia Lotz was the artist's wife

Oil on wood

10 x 17 cm

Private collection

Estimated for 1 464 EUR - 2 441 EUR in Oct 2013

Károly Lotz  (1833–1904)

Kornélia Lotz

Kornélia Lotz was the artist's wife

Oil on cardboard

Height: 20 cm (7.8 in); Width: 54 cm (21.2 in)

Private collection

Károly Lotz  (1833–1904)

Cornelia Lotz in Black, c. 1896

Kornélia Lotz was the artist's wife

Oil on canvas

Height: 163.8 cm (64.4 in); Width: 82 cm (32.2 in)

Hungarian National Gallery

Károly Lotz turned to portrait painting more intensely in the 1890s. His model was primarily his foster daughter Kornélia. Practically, his portraits of Kornélia form a series, in which she embodies a bathing nymph and goddess, a bacchante and grand lady, an innocent virgin and a serious woman, all at the same time. From Lotz’ portraits, it is hard to make out what Kornélia was actually like – we just take her as the changeable woman standing for the type of ideal female at the turn of the century. It is fascinating that the modern female personality shines through even the old-fashioned, historicist milieu of the Kornélia portraits, in anticipation of the great female types of the 20th century. The narrow standing format of this portrait of Kornélia in a black dress, the graceful harmony of the mirror frame in the background with the subtly swaying forms of the model already point to the forms of art nouveau, the colour scheme predominated by black also being in line with the tendencies around the turn of the century. More on this painting

Károly Lotz

Károly Lotz, Portrait of Kornélia Lotz with Golden Locket, c. 1900s

Kornélia Lotz was the artist's wife

Watercolor

186 × 132 mm

Szépművészeti Múzeum

Károly Lotz  (1833–1904)

Spring (Portrait of Ilona K. Lippich), c. 1894

Daughter of Gusztáv Koronghy Lippich, head of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county, wife of János Szalay from Almás

Oil on canvas

Height: 113 cm (44.4 in); Width: 81.5 cm (32 in)

Hungarian National Gallery

In 1882 Lotz was appointed Professor at various art academies in Budapest, and in 1885 he became dean of a newly established department for women painters. He was an honorary member of the Academy of Pictorial Arts in Vienna.

Lotz Karoly

Vision (Towards the Light)

Oil, cardboard on board

61,5x46 cm

Private collection

His last important public commission was the "Apotheosis of the Habsburg Dynasty", a huge ceiling fresco in the Habsburg Room of the newly rebuilt Royal Palace, that he painted in 1903, one year before his death. Lotz was already seriously ill when he worked on the fresco. The "Apotheosis" followed the traditions of Baroque court painting and the work was praised by contemporary critics. The fresco survived the war unscathed, but it was destroyed in the 1950s.

Attributed to Karl Karoly Lotz (Hungarian, German, 1833 - 1904)

Nude Woman

Oil on canvas

31 1/2 x 24 inches / 79 x 60 cm

Private collection

Estimated for $2,700 USD - $3,000 USD in Apr 2020

Károly Lotz, (1833, Homburg vor der Höhe - 1904, Budapest)

Bathing Woman, c. 1901

Oil on canvas

180 x 70 cm

Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest

Painting nudes was one of the favourite genres of Károly Lotz, especially during the 1890s he painted several nudes. His female nudes are generally very sensuous, with natural beauty radiating from their gestures. This particular nude is a little abstract; her posture, the cape over the shoulder, and the black stone vessel are reminiscent of the cool grace of Ingres's nudes. More on this painting

Károly Lotz, (1833, Homburg vor der Höhe - 1904, Budapest)

After the Bath, c. 1880

Oil on canvas

128 x 97 cm

Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest

He died in 1904 in Budapest. As a "Prince of Hungarian Artists" he was given a state funeral and interred inside a memorial. His pictures, drawings and sketches were donated to the State of Hungary and are now in the Szépművészeti Múzeum. Several Hungarian cities have streets named after him, there are Hungarian stamps bearing his likeness, and there is a bust in the National Museum in Budapest. More on Károly Lotz

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26 Works, December 3rd. is Lord Frederic Leighton's day, his art, illustrated with footnotes #244

Frederic Leighton (1830–1896)

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, 1st Baron Leighton, PRA (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and classical subject matter in an academic style. His paintings were enormously popular, and expensive, during his lifetime.

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

Frederic, Lord Leighton, P.R.A., R.W.S

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

Sold for  £ 11,353 in Jun 2002

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, 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 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.

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

Sold for 375,000 USD in Nov 2017

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

Sold for 1,874,500 USD in Oct 2009

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

Frederic Leighton

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.

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

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

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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