Lord Leighton - Definition and Overview

Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton (December 31, 1830 - January 25, 1896) was an English painter and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical and classical subject matter, painted for Victorian sensibilities.

Leighton was born in Scarborough. He received his artistic training on the European continent, first from Edward von Steinle and then from Giovanni Costa. He lived in Paris from 1855 to 1859, where he met Ingres, Delacroix, Corot, and Millet. In 1860, he moved to London, where he associated with the Pre-Raphaelites. In 1864 he became an associate of the Royal Academy and in 1878 he became its president.

Leighton was knighted at Windsor in 1878, and was created a baronet eight years later. He was the first painter to be given a peerage, in the New Years Honours List of 1896. The patent conferring on him the Barony of Leighton was issued on January 24, 1896; Leighton died the next day of angina pectoris. As he was unmarried his Barony was extinguished; this is an all-time record in the Peerage. His house in Holland Park, London has been turned into a museum, the Leighton House Museum. It contains a number of his drawings and paintings.

His work includes:

• Death of Brunelleschi (1852), oil on canvas
• Cimabue's Celebrated Madonna is carried in Procession through the Streets of Florence (http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=L275) (1853-5), oil on canvas. This was his first major work and was exhibited at the Royal Academy. Queen Victoria was so taken with it that she bought it for 600 guineas on the opening day of the exhibition.
• The Discovery of Juliet Apparently Lifeless (http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=999999961&workid=8581&searchid=6933&tabview=image) (c.1858)
• The Villa Malta, Rome (http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=L851) (1860s), oil on canvas
• Actaea, the Nymph of the Shore (http://cybermuse.gallery.ca/cybermuse/search/artwork_e.jsp?mkey=10042) (1868), oil on canvas
• Hercules Wrestling with Death for the Body of Alcestis (1869-71)
• An Athlete Wrestling with a Python (http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=999999961&workid=8579&searchid=6933&tabview=image) (1877), bronze sculpture
• Flaming June (1895), oil on canvas
• 'The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (Fresco)' (http://www.newforestparishes.com/fresco_new_smaller.jpg)

External links

• Leighton House Museum (http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/LeightonHouseMuseum/General/default.asp)
• Obituary from The Times (http://www.victorianartinbritain.co.uk/obituary/leighton.htm)
• Biography from the Cleveland Museum of Art (http://www.clevelandart.org/explore/artist.asp?searchText=Leighton&display=list&tab=1&recNo=0&bio=full)
• 'The Garden of Hesperides' (c.1892) (http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/picture-of-month/displaypicture.asp?venue=7&id=137) at the Lady Lever Art Gallery (http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ladylever/index.asp)