Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, (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, but fell out of critical favour for many decades in the early 20th century. Leighton was the bearer of the shortest-lived peerage in history; after only one day his hereditary peerage became extinct upon his death.

Biography

Lord Leighton, Frederic, After Vespers, 1871

Leighton was born in

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

to Augusta Susan and Dr. Frederic Septimus Leighton (1799-1892), a medical doctor. Leighton's grandfather, Sir James Boniface Leighton (1769-1843), had been the primary physician to two Russian tsars -

Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome * Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of ...

and Nicholas I - and their families, and amassed a fortune while in their service. Leighton’s career was always cushioned by this family wealth, with his father paying him an allowance throughout his life. He had two sisters, one of them being Alexandra who was Robert Browning's biographer. He was educated at

University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_he ...

, London. He then received his artistic training on the European continent, first from

Eduard von Steinle Eduard von Steinle (2 July 1810 – 19 September 1886) was a historical painter and member of the Nazarene movement. Life He was born 2 July 1810 in Vienna. Steinle came successively under the influence of the painters Leopold Kupelwieser ...

and then from Giovanni Costa. 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 Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

; he studied at the

Accademia di Belle Arti This is a list of the tertiary-level schools or academies of fine art in Italy that are recognised by the Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca, the Italian ministry of higher education. Accademie di Belle Arti The offic ...

, and painted the procession of the

Cimabue Cimabue (; ; – 1302), Translated with an introduction and notes by J.C. and P Bondanella. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Oxford World’s Classics), 1991, pp. 7–14. . also known as Cenni di Pepo or Cenni di Pepi, was an Italian painter ...

Madonna through the Borgo Allegri. From 1855 to 1859 he lived in Paris, where he met Ingres, Delacroix,

Corot CoRoT (French: ; English: Convection, Rotation and planetary Transits) was a space telescope mission which operated from 2006 to 2013. The mission's two objectives were to search for extrasolar planets with short orbital periods, particularly th ...

and Millet. In 1860, he moved to London, where he associated with the

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

s. He designed Elizabeth Barrett Browning's tomb for Robert Browning in the

English Cemetery, Florence The English Cemetery in Florence, Italy (Italian, ''Cimitero degli inglesi'', ''Cimitero Porta a' Pinti'' and ''Cimitero Protestante'') is an Evangelical cemetery located at Piazzale Donatello. Although its origins date to its foundation in 1827 ...

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 ''An Athlete Wrestling with a Python'' was the first of three bronze sculptures produced by the British artist Frederic Leighton. Completed in 1877, the sculpture was a departure for Leighton, and heralded the advent of a new movement, New ...

'', 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 The Exposition Universelle of 1900, better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate developmen ...

. Leighton was knighted at

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

in 1878, and was created a baronet, of Holland Park Road in the Parish of

St Mary Abbots St Mary Abbots is a church located on Kensington High Street and the corner of Kensington Church Street in London W8. The present church structure was built in 1872 to the designs of Sir George Gilbert Scott, who combined neo-Gothic and early ...

, 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 New Year Honours 1896 were appointments by Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her ...

. 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 Angina, also known as angina pectoris, is chest pain or pressure, usually caused by insufficient blood flow to the heart muscle (myocardium). It is most commonly a symptom of coronary artery disease. Angina is typically the result of obstru ...

. Leighton remained a bachelor; rumours of him having an illegitimate child with one of his models, in addition to the supposition that Leighton may have been a homosexual, continue to be debated.Emanuel Cooper, ''The Sexual Perspective: Homosexuality and Art in the Last 100 Years in the West'', 2005 He certainly enjoyed an intense and romantically tinged relationship with the poet

Henry William Greville Henry William Greville (28 October 1801 – 12 December 1872) was an English aristocrat and diarist. He was the youngest son of Charles Greville, grandson of the fifth Lord Warwick, by Lady Charlotte Cavendish Bentinck, eldest daughter of Will ...

whom he met in Florence in 1856. The older man showered Leighton in letters, but the romantic affection seems not to have been reciprocated. Enquiry is furthermore hindered by the fact that Leighton left no diaries and his letters are telling in their lack of reference to his personal circumstances. No definite primary evidence has yet come to light that effectively dispels the secrecy that Leighton built up around himself, although it is clear that he did court a circle of younger men around his artistic studio. 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 The Leighton House Museum is an art museum in the Holland Park area of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. The building was the London home of painter Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton (1830–1896), who commi ...

. It contains many of his drawings and paintings, as well as some of his former art collection including works by Old Masters and his contemporaries such as a painting dedicated to Leighton by Sir John Everett Millais. The house also features many of Leighton's inspirations, including his collection of Iznik tiles. Its centrepiece is the magnificent Arab Hall. The Hall is featured in issue ten of ''

Cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (), from Latin ''cornu'' (horn) and ''copia'' (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers ...

''. A blue plaque commemorates Leighton at Leighton House Museum.

Artists Rifles

Frederic Leighton, Baron Leighton by George Frederic Watts

Leighton was an enthusiastic volunteer soldier, enrolling with the first group to join the 38th Middlesex (Artists') Rifle Volunteer Corps (later to be known as the Artists Rifles) on 5 October 1860. His qualities of leadership were immediately identified, and he was promoted to command a Company within a few months. On 6 January 1869 Captain Leighton was elected to command the Artists Rifles by a general meeting of the corps. In the same year he was promoted to major and in 1875 to lieutenant colonel. Leighton resigned as commanding officer in 1883. The painter

James Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading pr ...

famously described the then Sir Frederic Leighton, the commanding officer of the Artists Rifles, as the: "Colonel of the Royal Academy and the President of the Artists Rifles – aye, and he paints a little!" At his funeral, on 3 February 1896, his coffin was carried into St Paul's Cathedral, past a guard of honour formed by the Artists Rifles.

Honours

* 1864: Associate of the Royal Academy * 1868: Royal Academy

Academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. In syst ...

* 1878: President of the Royal Academy * 1878:

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

Officer * 1878:

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are th ...

* 1886: Created a baronet in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom * 1889: Associate member of the

Institute of France The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute m ...

* 1896: Created a baron in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

Selected works

* ''Death of Brunelleschi'' (1852), oil on canvas * ''The Fisherman and the Siren'', c. 1856–58 (66.3 × 48.7 cm) * '' Cimabue's Celebrated Madonna Is Carried in Procession Through the Streets of Florence'' (1853–55), oil on canvas. * ''The Discovery of Juliet Apparently Lifeless'' (c.1858) * ''The Villa Malta, Rome'' (1860s), oil on canvas * '' The Painter's Honeymoon'', c. 1864 (83.8 × 77.5 cm) * ''Mother and Child'', c. 1865, (48.2 × 82 cm) * ''Actaea, the Nymph of the Shore'' (1868), oil on canvas, (57.2 × 102.2 cm)

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the ...

, Ottawa. * ''Daedalus and Icarus'', c. 1869, (138.2 × 106.5 cm) * ''Hercules Wrestling with Death for the Body of Alcestis'' (1869–71) (132.4 × 265.4 cm) * ''After Vespers'' 1871, (111.5 × 71.5 cm),

Princeton University Art Museum The Princeton University Art Museum (PUAM) is the Princeton University gallery of art, located in Princeton, New Jersey. With a collecting history that began in 1755, the museum was formally established in 1882, and now houses over 113,000 works o ...

* ''Greek Girls Picking up Pebbles by the Sea'', 1871 (84 × 129.5 cm) * ''Teresina '' (c. 1874)

Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu The Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, commonly known as the Christchurch Art Gallery, is the public art gallery of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It has its own substantial art collection and also presents a programme of New ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, New Zealand * ''Music Lesson'', c. 1877, (92.8 × 118.1 cm) * ''

An Athlete Wrestling with a Python ''An Athlete Wrestling with a Python'' was the first of three bronze sculptures produced by the British artist Frederic Leighton. Completed in 1877, the sculpture was a departure for Leighton, and heralded the advent of a new movement, New ...

'' (1877), bronze sculpture * ''Nausicaa'', c. 1878 (145 × 67 cm) * ''Winding the Skein'', c. 1878, (100.3 × 161.3 cm) * ''Light of the Harem'', c. 1880, (152.4 × 83.8 cm) * ''Idyll'', c. 1880–81 * ''Wedded'', (c. 1881–1882) (145.4 × 81 cm) * '' Cymon and Iphigenia'' (1884) Art Gallery of New South Wales * ''

Captive Andromache ''Captive Andromache'' is an oil painting on a 197 cm × 407 cm canvas by Frederic Leighton produced in ca. 1888. The subject is from Homer's ''Iliad''. The painting was purchased by Manchester City Council for £4,000 from the artist ...

'', c. 1888 (197 × 406.5 cm) * '' The Bath of Psyche'', (c. 1889–90) (189.2 × 62.2 cm)

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

* ''The Garden of the Hesperides'', c. 1892, (169 × 169 cm) * '' Flaming June'' (1895), oil on canvas, Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico (120.6 × 120.6 cm) * ''The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (Fresco)'' * ''The armlet'' * ''Phoebe'' (55.88 × 60.96 cm) * ''A Bather'' * The Leighton Frescoes, ''The Arts of Industry as Applied to War'' and ''The Arts of Industry as Applied to Peace'' * ''Phoenicians Trading with the Early Britons on the Coast of Cornwall'', 1895. Mural at the Royal Exchange, London * ''The Return of Persephone'' 1891, oil on canvas,

Leeds Art Gallery Leeds Art Gallery in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is a gallery, part of the Leeds Museums & Galleries group, whose collection of 20th-century British Art was designated by the British government in 1997 as a collection "of national importance ...

Gallery

File:Lord Frederick Leighton FLL006.jpg, '' Icarus and

Daedalus In Greek mythology, Daedalus (, ; Greek: Δαίδαλος; Latin: ''Daedalus''; Etruscan: ''Taitale'') was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. He is the father of Icarus, the uncle of Perdix, a ...

'', c. 1869 File:Frederic Leighton - The Garden of the Hesperides.jpg, ''The Garden of the

Hesperides In Greek mythology, the Hesperides (; , ) are the nymphs of evening and golden light of sunsets, who were the "Daughters of the Evening" or "Nymphs of the West". They were also called the Atlantides () from their reputed father, the Titan At ...

'', oil on canvas painting, 1892,

Lady Lever Art Gallery The Lady Lever Art Gallery is a museum founded and built by the industrialist and philanthropist William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme and opened in 1922. The Lady Lever Art Gallery is set in the garden village of Port Sunlight, on the Wirral ...

File:Frederic Lord Leighton-The Sluggard-Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg, ''The Sluggard'', 1885 File:An athlete wrestling with a python, white marble sculpture by Frederic, Lord Leighton, 1888-1891, private collection.jpg, ''

Athlete wrestling with a Python ''An Athlete Wrestling with a Python'' was the first of three bronze sculptures produced by the British artist Frederic Leighton. Completed in 1877, the sculpture was a departure for Leighton, and heralded the advent of a new movement, New ...

'', white marble sculpture, 1888–1891 (Private collection: on loan to the Art Gallery of New South Wales) File:Leighton-The Fisherman and the Syren-c. 1856-1858.jpg, ''The Fisherman and the Syren'', c.1856–1858, private collection File:Leightonhero.jpg, ''The Last Watch of

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...

'', 1880 File:Frederic, Lord Leighton - Perseus and Andromeda - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Perseus and Andromeda'', 1891,

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History of the Gallery The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...

, Liverpool. File:Leighton Moses views the Promised Land.jpg, '' Moses views the Promised Land'' File:Leighton The Painter-s Honeymoon 1864.jpg, '' The Painter's Honeymoon'', 1864 File:Frederick Leighton - Memories.jpg, ''Memories'', 1883 File:1890s Frederick Leighton - Bath of Psyche.jpg, ''The Bath of Psyche'', 1879 File:Leighton, Frederic - Idyll - c. 1880-81.jpg, ''Idyll'', c. 1880–81 File:Leighton Captive Andromache.jpg, ''Captive

Andromache In Greek mythology, Andromache (; grc, Ἀνδρομάχη, ) was the wife of Hector, daughter of Eetion, and sister to Podes. She was born and raised in the city of Cilician Thebe, over which her father ruled. The name means 'man battler ...

'', oil on canvas painting, 1886–1888, Manchester City Art Gallery File:Lord Frederic Leighton - Cymon and Iphigenia - Google Art Project.jpg, '' Cymon and Iphigenia'', oil on canvas painting, 1884, Art Gallery of New South Wales File:Frederic Leighton - Portrait of May Sartoris - Google Art Project.jpg File:Frederick Leighton - Biondina.jpg, ''Biondina'', 1879 File:Frederic Leighton - The Return of Persephone (1891).jpg, ''The Return of Persephone'', 1891 File:Frederic Leighton Kittens.jpg, ''Kittens'', 1883 File:Leighton, Frederick - A Girl Feeding Peacocks.jpg, ''A Girl Feeding Peacocks'', c. 1863 File:Frederick Leighton - Solitude.jpg, ''Solitude'', c. 1890 File:Lord Frederic Leighton - Winding the skein - Google Art ProjectFXD.jpg, Winding the skein, 1878

Citations

General references

External links

Frederic-Leighton.org
��114 works by Frederic Leighton
Advice to Young Artists by Frederick Lord Leighton
��high resolution images
Scarborough, Birthplace of Lord Frederic Leighton

Leighton House Museum

from ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

''
Leighton Gallery
at MuseumSyndicate *
Portrait of Sir Frederick Leighton, PRA
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University of Michigan Museum of Art The University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, Michigan with is one of the largest university art museums in the United States. Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alumni Memorial Hall ori ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leighton, Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron 1830 births 1896 deaths Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom English sculptors English male sculptors History painters People of the Victorian era Prix de Rome for painting People from Scarborough, North Yorkshire Royal Academicians People educated at University College School Knights Bachelor Artists' Rifles officers Academic art Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Pre-Raphaelite painters 19th-century British sculptors 19th-century English painters Orientalist painters English male painters Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria Pre-Raphaelite sculptors