,,masterpieces   ,,in ,,colour          
,,edited ,,by   ,t4 ,,leman ,,hare      
,,leighton  #ahcj-ahig       ,,plate    
,i4--,,and ,,the ,,sea ,,gave ,,up ,,the
 ,,dead ,,which ,,were ,,in ,,it4--,rev4
 xx4 #ac4 7,frontispiece7  7,at the     
,tate ,gallery1 ,london7  ,this panel   
was intended to form part of a scheme of
 decoration for the ,dome of ,st4       
,paul's ,cathedral1 and is interesting  
as an example of ,leighton's methods of 
design4  ,both in subject and mode of   
treatment it departs markedly from the  
customary direction of his paintings1   
but its largeness of style and          
imaginative power give it an important  
place in the series of his works4       
,illustration3 ,,plate ,i4--,,and ,,the 
,,sea ,,gave ,,up ,,the ,,dead ,,which  
,,were ,,in ,,it4       ,,leighton      
,,by ,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry   ,,illustrated 
,,with ,,eight  ,,reproductions ,,in    
,,colour    ,illustration3 title page   
art    ,,london3 ,t4 ,c4  ,e4 ,c4 ,,jack
  ,,new ,,york3 ,,frederick ,a4 ,,stokes

 ,,co4  #aijh     ,,list ,,of           
,,illustrations  ,plate      ,i4 ,and   
the ,sea gave up the ,dead which        
were in it4 7,rev4 ,,xx4 #ac7 4 4 4 4 4 
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,frontispiece             
,at the ,tate ,gallery     ,,ii4 ,the   
,syracusan ,bride            ,in the    
possession of ,f4 ,b4 ,mildmay1 ,esq41  
,m4,p4    ,,iii4 ,gathering ,citrons    
,in the possession of ,f4 ,b4 ,mildmay1 
,esq41 ,m4,p4     ,,iv4 ,clytemnestra   
,at ,leighton ,house1 ,kensington       
,v4 ,the ,bath of ,psyche            ,at
 the ,tate ,gallery     ,,vi4 ,a ,noble 
,lady of ,venice            ,in the     
possession of ,lord ,armstrong1         
,rothbary    ,,vii4 ,elijah in the      
,wilderness            ,at the ,walker  
,art ,gallery1 ,liverpool   ,,viii4     
,portrait of ,sir ,richard ,burton      
,at the ,national ,portrait ,gallery    
,illustration3 ,leighton     ,it is true
 that a definite connection can almost  
always be traced between the temperament
 of an artist and the work that he      

produces4 ,one of the first things that 
must be taken into account in any study 
of his achievement is the manner of his 
training during the most impressionable 
years of his boyhood4  ,youthful        
associations and surroundings must      
obviously have a very real influence    
upon the direction in which any man     
develops in after life1 and much of his 
later success or failure must depend    
upon the kind of cultivation that is    
given at the outset to his natural      
tastes and instinctive preferences4     
,everything which helps to define his   
personality1 or to shape his character1 
has an actual bearing upon his ultimate 
efficiency as a producer1 and counts for
 something in the building up of his    
scheme of active existence2 the         
discipline of a judicious up-bringing   
puts his temperament under the control  
of his intelligence1 and by pointing the
 way in which he can best apply his     
powers1 saves him from wasting his      
energies in unprofitable experiment4    

,he starts his career with a knowledge  
of himself1 and with confidence in his  
personal qualifications for the         
profession he has chosen2 and this      
confidence enables him to use his       
individuality not only to his own       
advantage1 but for the benefit of other 
men as well4  ,it would not be easy to  
find a better instance of this          
connection between the artist's         
personality and the character of his    
performance than is afforded by the life
 and practice of ,lord ,leighton1 nor   
one which marks more definitely the     
effect produced by early associations   
and training4  ,indeed1 to understand   
his art at all1 it is necessary to trace
 from his childhood the sequence of     
events by which the trend of his        
aesthetic convictions was determined1   
and to follow1 step by step1 the        
evolution of that creed in which he     
retained1 to the end1 the fullest and   
most absolute faith4  ,he was no        
opportunist in art matters1 momentary   

fashions did not affect him1 and he did 
not yield to the temptation1 which many 
artists are unable to resist1 to make   
experiments in unaccustomed directions2 
what he once believed he believed       
always1 and neither his catholicity of  
taste1 nor his generous toleration of   
methods of practice quite opposed to his
 own1 had any effect upon the           
consistency of his effort4  ,what he    
conceived to be his mission he fulfilled
 to the utmost1 and there is no plainer 
proof of his strength than the firmness 
of his adherence to the course which he 
had decided at the outset was the one he
 ought to follow4    ,,plate            
,,ii4--,,the ,,syracusan ,,bride  7,the 
plate represents the centre portion of  
the picture1 now in the possession of   
,mr4 ,mildmay1 ,m4,p41 at ,ivybridge7   
,a typical example of the artist's      
earlier manner--characteristically suave
 in line arrangement and dignified in   
effect--this picture shows well how he  
could manage the intricacies of an      

elaborate composition4 ,the decorative  
beauty of the whole design and the grace
 of individual figures can be sincerely 
admired4  ,illustration3 ,,plate        
,,ii4--,,the ,,syracusan ,,bride        
,leighton does not seem to have owed to 
heredity any of his particular gifts as 
an artist4  ,his father and grandfather 
were both medical men1 and1 during      
several generations preceding his birth1
 no member of his family appears to have
 possessed more than an ordinary degree 
of taste in art matters4  ,yet the      
desire for the pictorial expression of  
his ideas was one of the first of his   
childish inclinations2 and in #ahci1    
before he was ten years old--he was born
 at ,scarborough on ,december #c1       
#ahcj--this desire had become so strong 
that his parents began seriously to     
consider whether it ought not to be     
accepted by them as determining the     
profession which he was eventually to   
follow4  ,their final decision on the   
subject was postponed for some years    

longer1 for they felt the need for      
caution lest his powers should prove to 
be insufficient to justify them in      
consenting that he should become a      
professional artist4 ,but meanwhile his 
father1 himself a man of culture and a  
lover of the classics1 determined that  
the boy should receive a good general   
education1 and that1 though art teaching
 was not to be denied to him1 it should 
be one only of the subjects in which he 
was to be trained4  ,so for the next    
four or five years his work was very    
judiciously varied4  ,in #ahdj he had   
gone with his parents to ,rome1 and     
during the two years he remained there  
he had regular drawing-lessons from     
,signor ,meli4  ,then came a year spent 
partly at ,dresden and partly at        
,berlin1 which gave him further         
opportunities for art study1 a short    
stay during #ahdc at a school at        
,frankfort1 and another move1 in #ahdd1 
to ,florence4 ,this wandering life under
 his father's guidance was of no small  

advantage to him1 for it not only       
offered him chances of becoming         
acquainted with various types of art1   
but enabled him to acquire that command 
of languages which was of so much       
service to him in his after career4  ,it
 gave him1 too1 a wide experience of    
people and things such as comes seldom  
enough to a lad of his age1 and had     
undoubtedly a very valuable influence   
upon his mental development4  ,it was in
 ,florence that the question whether he 
was or was not to be an artist was      
finally decided4  ,his father sought the
 advice of ,hiram ,powers1 the ,american
 sculptor1 to whom he showed examples of
 the boy's work and asked whether he    
should make him an artist4  ,when       
,powers declared that ,nature had done  
that already1 and1 in answer to further 
questioning as to young ,leighton's     
chances of success1 said that he would  
become as eminent as he pleased1 the    
parental doubts and hesitation came to  
an end4  ,immediate steps were taken to 

give him a grounding in the rudiments of
 the profession which opened up to him  
such brilliant prospects4  ,his general 
education still went on1 but he was     
allowed time for special study1 and not 
only entered the ,accademia delle ,belle
 ,arti at ,florence1 but also set to    
work to study anatomy under ,zanetti at 
the hospital in that city2 and on these 
lines his training was continued for    
some little while4  ,when he left       
,florence it was to return to his school
 at ,frankfort1 where he remained till  
he was nearly seventeen1 and then he    
spent a year in the ,stadtlesches       
,institut there4  ,he moved next to     
,brussels1 where he came in contact with
 ,wiertz and ,gallait1 and then for a   
few months to ,paris1 to worship at the 
shrine of ,ingres and ,ary ,scheffer4   
,but during this period his art work was
 carried on without the systematic      
direction of any master1 and though on  
his travels he had picked up much useful
 knowledge1 and had acquired sufficient 

confidence in himself to attempt two or 
three pictures of some importance1 he   
felt at last the need for real          
discipline4  ,so at the end of #ahdi he 
left ,paris1 and returned to ,frankfort 
to put himself under the rigid rule of  
,steinle1 a master from whom he knew    
that he would receive just the drilling 
which was necessary to bring his        
somewhat errant youthful fancies under  
proper control4  ,steinle was an artist 
who had little sympathy with those      
redundancies of style which were at that
 time characteristic of the ,florentine 
school4  ,he was a believer in severity 
of manner1 in formality and strict      
simplicity1 and that ,leighton should   
have chosen him as the one man from whom
 he desired to receive tuition is proof 
enough that the young artist was fully  
conscious of the deficiencies in his own
 early performance4  ,with this         
consciousness to spur him on it can well
 be imagined that the two years he spent
 with ,steinle were not wasted2 he      

worked hard1 and if he had to unlearn   
much that he had learned before1 he     
acquired thereby a sounder judgment of  
the relative value of different forms of
 practice1 and added largely to his     
knowledge of technical processes4  ,he  
had1 during his earlier wanderings from 
place to place1 seen and studied many   
phases of art1 and he had gathered      
impressions with what was1 perhaps1     
rather dangerous facility2 to bring this
 mass of oddly assorted information into
 proper shape1 and to sift out from it  
what had real value1 was a task in which
 he needed the assistance of a          
disciplinarian with high ideals and firm
 convictions4 ,he had full confidence in
 ,steinle's judgment1 and though his own
 aesthetic creed was even then too      
clearly defined to be changed in        
essentials by the asceticism of his     
master1 he responded readily to the     
suggestions of a man who could show him 
plainly just where the extravagances of 
this creed required to be curbed1 and   

how what was best in it could most fitly
 be developed4  ,he left ,frankfort in  
the autumn of #aheb and went to live at 
,rome2 and soon after he had settled    
there he commenced the picture which was
 destined1 on its appearance at the     
,royal ,academy in #ahee1 to put him    
instantly among the most prominent of   
the artists of his time4  ,in this      
picture--,cimabue's ,madonna carried in 
,procession through the ,streets of     
,florence--he not only summarised all   
his previous experience1 but forecasted 
what was to be his artistic direction   
during the rest of his life4  ,though he
 had painted other canvases before1 and 
exhibited them at ,frankfort1 it was    
with this one that his career as an     
artist of admitted distinction really   
began4  ,it introduced him dramatically 
to the ,british public2 it was bought by
 ,queen ,victoria--a fact which         
immediately advertised its importance to
 art lovers in this country--and it     
amply justified the hopes and           

expectations as to his future1 which had
 been formed by his many friends abroad 
and by the judges who had had           
opportunities of estimating the value of
 his student work4  ,this was the       
picture which ,thackeray had seen in    
progress at ,rome1 and which1 by the    
impression it made upon him1 induced him
 to tell ,millais that he had come      
across a versatile young dog who will   
run you hard for the presidentship one  
day--a much-quoted prophecy of which we 
have had since the complete fulfilment4 
,,plate ,,iii4--,,gathering ,,citrons   
7,in the possession of ,mr4 ,mildmay1   
,m4,p47  ,few of ,leighton's paintings  
of ,eastern subjects illustrate better  
than this one the certainty and         
precision of his draughtsmanship and his
 power of dealing with architectural    
details4  ,but this ,old                
,damascus--,jews' ,quarter--as it was   
called when it was first exhibited in   
#ahgd--;is much more than a simple study
 of architecture2 it sums up many of the

 artist's best qualities as a craftsman 
and a shrewd observer of ,nature4       
,illustration3 ,,plate                  
,,iii4--,,gathering ,,citrons    ,but in
 an analysis of ,leighton's art this    
famous composition claims a place of    
even greater importance than in the     
historical summary of his life's work4  
,that it has faults in draughtsmanship1 
and that in certain details its         
composition is open to criticism1 can be
 frankly admitted2 these defects1       
however1 are but what might have been   
expected in so ambitious an effort by an
 artist whose years did not number more 
than four-and-twenty1 and who           
necessarily lacked that comprehensive   
grasp of executive processes which comes
 only with long experience and          
exhaustive practice in the mechanism of 
painting4  ,when the circumstances of   
its production are taken into account it
 must always rank as one of the most    
triumphant demonstrations of youthful   
genius which have ever been recorded4   

,that its reception at the #ahee        
,academy was really enthusiastic can    
well be understood2 it must have come as
 a welcome surprise to the people who   
were growing impatient of the atmosphere
 of mediocrity by which at that period  
nearly the whole of ,british art was    
pervaded4  ,now1 the significance of    
such an example of ,leighton's early    
achievement is made more emphatic by    
comparison with the long series of his  
later works4  ,at twenty-four the       
,italian influence was strong upon him1 
and the impressions of his boyhood1     
modified but not effaced by the teaching
 of ,steinle1 had still power to control
 his artistic intelligence4  ,the       
triviality of ,italian art1 its love of 
detail1 and its seeking after           
superficialities of expression1 did not 
appeal to him1 but in its sumptuousness 
and sensuous charm he found something   
with which he could fully sympathise4   
,in yielding to this sympathy1 however1 
he was kept by his fastidious taste and 

innate love of refinement from running  
to extremes4  ,he worked in the ,italian
 spirit1 but the spirit was that of the 
older masters rather than that of the   
modern men1 and even then it underwent a
 kind of transmutation in his mind4     
,for the greater qualities of the       
picture were not simply the outcome of  
his imitation of the mannerisms of the  
school to which at that time he belonged
 by association1 rather were they due to
 his personal conception of the         
functions which the imaginative painter 
was called upon to fulfil--to an        
independent belief which was capable of 
being asserted in many ways4  ,this     
belief1 formed in his early manhood1    
persisted1 indeed1 in all its essentials
 to the end of his days1 and was as     
surely evidenced in his later classicism
 as in the first few examples of his    
,italian adaptations4  ,it was founded  
upon the idea that a work of art to be  
really great must be rightly decorative1
 that whatever the pictorial motive     

chosen1 it must be treated as the basis 
of a studied arrangement of form and    
colour1 and must be brought as near to  
perfection of design as is possible by  
the exercise of all the devices of      
craftsmanship4  ,leighton undoubtedly   
saw in decoration the only permissible  
application of painting1 but he saw also
 that decoration could be made much more
 than a narrow and unreal convention1   
and that so far from hampering the      
artist with high ideals1 it offered him 
the greatest opportunities of satisfying
 his aspirations4  ,he appreciated1 too1
 the fact that the most exquisite       
naturalism could be attained in every   
part of a picture which was designed    
purely to express an ideal fancy4       
,therefore1 he did not hesitate to      
select1 for many of his most exactly    
reasoned compositions1 subjects which   
had either an historical allusion1 or   
which illustrated some myth or legend4  
,he was so sure of the principle of his 
art that he did not fear that in telling

 the story1 and in embroidering it with 
a wealth of minutely perfected detail1  
he would lose the vitality or the purity
 of his decoration4  ,to this confidence
 was due emphatically both the power and
 the charm of the ,cimabue picture4     
,the subject1 in itself merely          
episodical1 was one capable of just that
 refinement of design1 and balance of   
colour1 which the decorator who is      
adequately conscious of his             
responsibility regards as indispensable2
 and ,leighton1 spurred to emulation by 
the noble examples of decorative        
painting with which he had been familiar
 from his childhood1 and endowed with a 
just appreciation of his own great      
gifts1 had no hesitation in attempting  
to turn this incident from art history  
into a painting which would be an avowal
 of all the articles of his aesthetic   
creed1 and a profession of the faith to 
which he had sworn allegiance4  ,it is  
characteristic of his courage that he   
should have chosen to make in this      

manner his first appearance in an       
,english exhibition2 a man of less      
independence would probably have        
hesitated to stake so much upon a piece 
of work which1 by the very frankness of 
its revelation of the artist's intention
 to go his own way1 was quite as likely 
to excite opposition as to be received  
with approval4  ,but it was no part of  
his scheme of existence to tout for     
popularity by coming down to a lower    
level1 and he valued consistency more   
than the adulation of the public4       
,indeed1 by his very next picture1 ,the 
,triumph of ,music1 which was exhibited 
in #ahef1 he brought himself into       
conflict with the critics and students  
of what was accepted as correct art4    
,the ,triumph of ,music represented     
,orpheus playing a violin to ,pluto and 
,proserpine1 and the combination of     
figures from a classic story with an    
instrument invented only in the ,middle 
,ages was resented by every one who did 
not understand1 or did not sympathise   

with the artist's decorative and        
symbolical intention4  ,but in this     
instance also he was following the lead 
of the great ,italian masters1 who had  
provided him with many precedents for   
such a pictorial combination2 and it is 
quite probable that he knew beforehand  
what would be the effect upon a modern  
public of his attempt to give new life  
to an ancient tradition4  ,at least1 he 
proved that he was quite ready to go to 
all necessary lengths in his advocacy of
 freedom of practice1 and showed that he
 was not likely to enrol himself among  
the conventionalists and the followers  
of the mid-,victorian fashion4          
,,plate ,,iv4--,,clytemnestra  7,at     
,leighton ,house1 ,kensington7  ,the    
strength and statuesque dignity of this 
figure are not less remarkable than the 
power with which the subject as a whole 
is suggested4  ,the picture has a       
wonderful degree of dramatic effect1 and
 is especially impressive in its        
reticence and scholarly restraint4  ,the

 admirable drawing of the draperies     
should be particularly noted4           
,illustration3 ,,plate                  
,,iv4--,,clytemnestra    ,this picture  
was painted in ,paris1 whither he had   
gone in the autumn of #ahee4  ,he made  
that city his headquarters for some two 
years during which he worked            
assiduously1 and found many friends     
among the leaders of ,french art4  ,in  
#aheh he stayed for a time in ,london1  
and by coming in contact with some of   
the younger painters1 who were then     
contributing an important chapter to our
 art history--with men like ,millais1   
,rossetti1 and ,holman ,hunt--he        
obtained a closer insight into certain  
artistic movements of which1 while      
abroad1 he had probably heard but the   
faintest echoes4  ,by this time the     
,pre-,raphaelite rebellion had produced 
its effect and was not in need of his   
support1 but it may fairly be assumed   
that1 if the need had arisen1 he would  
have been on the side of those who were 

fighting for the emancipation of        
,british art4  ,in the following year he
 was again in ,italy1 and during the    
spring he worked in ,capri2 it was there
 that he executed that marvellous       
drawing of the ,lemon ,tree1 which has  
always1 and with justice1 been counted  
among his masterpieces2 but in #ahfj he 
decided to settle in ,london1 and       
established himself in ,orme ,square1   
,bayswater4  ,life in ,london did not1  
however1 mean that his excursions to    
other countries were to be abandoned1 he
 continued regularly to spend some      
months in each year in travel abroad1   
and he visited in succession ,spain1    
,damascus1 ,egypt1 and other parts of   
the ,east1 besides renewing his         
acquaintance with many places which he  
had seen before4  ,these wanderings were
 always productive2 they added much to  
his stock of material1 and the results  
of them are embodied in a number of his 
pictures1 as well as in that long series
 of open air sketches which show how    

sensitive he was to the beauty of       
nature1 and how delicately he could     
interpret her moods4    ,,plate         
,v4--,,the ,,bath ,,of ,,psyche  7,at   
the ,tate ,gallery1 ,london7  ,one of   
the most fascinating of ,leighton's     
classic compositions4  ,it was painted  
six years before his death1 and         
represents perfectly the art of his     
later period1 when his powers had fully 
matured and he had acquired complete    
control over refinements of practice4   
,exhibited in the ,royal ,academy in    
#ahij4  ,purchased by the ,chantrey     
,trustees in #ahij4  ,illustration3     
,,plate ,v4--,,the ,,bath ,,of ,,psyche 
,four years after ,leighton became a    
,british artist1 by residence as well as
 by birth1 he was elected an ,associate 
of the ,royal ,academy4  ,in this same  
year1 #ahfd1 he exhibited a picture1    
,golden ,hours1 which is notable as one 
of the most successful examples of his  
,italian manner4 ,but though the        
memories of his youth were still        

powerful1 and had1 even at that date1 an
 influence upon his art1 there was a    
definite change coming over his         
practice4  ,whether this change was due 
to closer contact with the traditions of
 ,english painting1 or simply to the    
inevitable maturing of his convictions  
as he drew near to middle age1 it is    
hard to say2 but certainly as years went
 on he inclined more and more away from 
the sumptuousness of ,italy1 towards the
 purer and less emotional dignity of    
,greece4  ,he sought more persistently  
for the classic atmosphere1 his idealism
 became more severe1 and his decoration 
more reticent1 and he turned more       
frequently for his subjects to the      
,greek myths4  ,as an illustration of   
his new view1 it is interesting to      
compare his ,syracusan ,bride leading   
,wild ,animals for ,sacrifice to the    
,temple of ,diana1 exhibited in #ahff1  
with the ,cimabue's ,madonna1 by which  
his reputation had been established     
eleven years before4  ,both are         

processional compositions of large size1
 both have the same sort of decorative  
intention2 but while there is in the    
first some kind of story1 and some      
attempt to realise the atmosphere of a  
particular period of history1 in the    
second there is little more than a      
purely fanciful pattern of forms and    
colours1 which is interesting solely on 
account of its beauty4  ,a similar      
comparison might be made between the    
,dante going forth into ,exile1 which   
belongs to the same year as the ,golden 
,hours1 and the ,venus ,disrobing for   
the ,bath of #ahfg1 or the ,helios and  
,rhodes1 ,electra at the ,tomb of       
,agamemnon1 and ,daedalus and ,icarus1  
of #ahfi4  ,in this latter year he      
exhibited also his diploma picture1 ,st4
 ,jerome in the ,desert--as he had been 
elected a ,royal ,academician in        
#ahfh--;but this1 a study of strong     
action1 and vehemently dramatic in      
effect1 is neither ,italian nor classic1
 and belongs really to a class of art   

into which he only occasionally         
digressed4  ,as time went on the        
statuesque repose of his canvases       
increased1 and the classic severity     
became perceptible even when he treated 
subjects which had no ,grecian allusion4
  ,it is quite apparent in his large    
picture of ,hercules ,wrestling with    
,death for the ,body of ,alcestis       
7#ahga71 though in this there is no lack
 of vigorous movement2 it gave a        
particular charm to his conception of   
the exquisite ,summer ,moon 7#ahgb71    
perhaps the most perfect work he ever   
produced2 and it is felt most of all in 
the vast composition1 ,the              
,daphnephoria1 which1 exhibited in      
#ahgf1 rounds off significantly that    
important decade in his career which    
opened with the ,syracusan ,bride4      
,henceforth ,leighton must be counted   
among the many artists of distinction   
who have1 in this country1 striven      
assiduously to keep alive the ,greek    
tradition4  ,he never sank into a mere  

pictorial archaeologist1 and rarely     
tried to produce those cold and lifeless
 reconstructions of ancient life which  
are too often put forth by painters who 
depend for their inspiration upon       
book-learning and museum study rather   
than imagination4  ,but the beauty of   
,greek art1 its strength and delicacy1  
its dignity and ideal grace1 absorbed   
him as they did ,fred ,walker and       
,albert ,moore1 and1 like these two     
,british masters1 he allowed its        
influence to determine the way in which 
the whole of his painting was treated4  
,even in such pictures as ,the ,slinger1
 an ,egyptian subject1 or ,gathering    
,citrons2 a ,court in ,damascus1 which  
was one of the results of his ,eastern  
travel1 both of which belong to this    
period1 he made no pretence of avoiding1
 for the sake of what may be called     
local exactness1 the antique            
preconception2 both are as evidently    
statuesque in design1 and classic in    
manner1 as any of his ,grecian          

fantasies2 and1 to take another         
instance1 it is instructive to note how1
 in his ,noble ,lady of ,venice1 a      
subject which seemingly demanded a      
purely ,italian quality1 the            
sumptuousness of effect has been refined
 and purified by a kind of simplicity of
 statement borrowed obviously from      
antique art4  ,it is curious1 however1  
that in the first important piece of    
sculpture for which he was responsible1 
the ,athlete ,struggling with a ,python1
 which was at the ,academy in #ahgg1 he 
should have avoided almost entirely any 
hint of ,greek spirit4  ,this statue is 
essentially ,italian1 both in its       
general design and in its details of    
modelling4  ,it has none of the firmness
 of line1 and little of the largeness of
 method1 which are so decisively        
characteristic of antique sculpture1 and
 owes plainly more to ,donatello than to
 ,phidias4  ,yet it has great and       
distinguished merits1 and can be placed 
in the company of the few great things  

which have been produced in this branch 
of art during modern times4  ,as an     
anatomical study it is most convincing1 
for it reveals an astonishingly complete
 knowledge of the construction of the   
human form1 and is exceedingly true in  
its realisation of muscular action4     
,perhaps the chief objection that can be
 urged against it as a work of art is   
that it records an impossibility--a     
snake of the size represented would be  
more than a match for a man even with   
the fine physique of the athlete1 and   
the ending of such a struggle1 the      
difficulty of which the statue hardly   
suggests1 would be prompt and           
disastrous4  ,but ,leighton's fine      
craftsmanship has made even an          
impossibility seem credible1 and his    
work must not be condemned because it   
involves an error in natural history4   
,he exhibited another large statue1 ,the
 ,sluggard1 in #ahhf1 which1 like the   
,athlete ,struggling with a ,python1 has
 found a permanent home in the ,tate    

,gallery4  ,it is again a study of      
action which1 if less violent than that 
of the earlier figure1 is still vigorous
 enough to show how well the artist     
understood anatomy2 and it is again     
,italian rather than ,greek4  ,it is    
also open to criticism because there is 
an apparent contradiction between the   
suggestion of the title and the physical
 character of the ,sluggard4  ,this well
 knit1 muscular youth1 stretching       
himself in an attitude of graceful      
freedom1 could have lived no slothful   
life4  ,activity and the capacity for   
strong exertion are evident in every    
line1 and his condition is too good to  
have been obtained without exercises    
which the sleepy1 sluggish man would not
 have cared to perform4  ,the title1    
indeed1 is unfortunate because it       
implies an intention on the artist's    
part to illustrate a particular motive  
which he has failed to express1 though  
what he has actually given us is        
artistically admirable and full of noble

 beauty4  ,in the interval between #ahgf
 and #ahhf ,leighton's pictorial        
production continued without            
intermission1 and without any abatement 
in the loftiness of his aim4  ,the      
,music ,lesson 7#ahgg71 ,winding the    
,skein 7#ahgh71 and ,nausicaa1 in the   
same year1 ,psamathe 7#ahhj71 ,the      
,idyll 7#ahha71 and ,cymon and          
,iphigenia 7#ahhd71 are all typical     
examples of his mature performance1 and 
with them must be included ,cleoboulos  
,instructing his ,daughter ,cleobouline1
 which though an earlier picture--it was
 exhibited in #ahga--;is in style and   
character closely allied to the ,music  
,lesson4  ,nor must his ,phryne at      
,eleusis 7#ahhb7 be overlooked1 though  
this is scarcely one of his happiest    
achievements1 and is a little too       
pedantic in style4  ,it claims          
consideration chiefly for its richness  
of colour and fine drawing of the nude  
female figure4    ,,plate ,,vi4--,a     
,,noble ,,lady ,,of ,,venice  7,at ,lord

 ,armstrong's seat1 ,rothbury ,castle1  
,northumberland7  ,as a technical       
exercise1 searching1 precise1 and       
careful1 and yet distinguished by a     
sumptuous breadth of effect1 this       
memorable study of a fine type of       
feminine beauty takes high rank among   
the artist's smaller paintings4  ,it    
bears most plainly the stamp of his     
correct and cultivated taste4           
,illustration3 ,,plate ,,vi4--,a ,,noble
 ,,lady ,,of ,,venice    ,into this     
decade fall two of the greater events of
 his life1 his election as ,president of
 the ,royal ,academy1 and the execution 
of his famous wall paintings1 ,the ,arts
 of ,war1 and ,the ,arts of ,peace1 in  
the ,south ,kensington ,museum4  ,on the
 death of ,sir ,francis ,grant1 who had 
held the ,presidential office since     
#ahff1 ,leighton was chosen1 on         
,november #ac1 #ahgh1 to fill the vacant
 post4  ,in making this selection1 the  
members of the ,academy did honour to a 
man who had raised himself1 by sheer    

strength of personality1 to a position  
of acknowledged leadership in the art   
affairs of this country1 but they also  
secured as their ,president an artist   
who was almost ideally fitted to deal   
with the many responsibilities which    
have necessarily to be incurred by the  
head of such an institution4            
,leighton's commanding and yet          
attractive presence1 his great power of 
organisation and grasp of details1 his  
wide knowledge of the world1 and his    
unusual capacity as a linguist1 gave him
 not only a high degree of authority as 
an official1 but also ensured to him the
 sincere confidence of those associated 
with him4  ,to every one outside the    
,academy he was the personification of  
all that was best in academic art2 and  
by his breadth of mind1 his wise        
toleration of all types of earnest      
effort1 and his ready sympathy with the 
struggling worker to whom merit had not 
brought success1 he gained the respect  
and even affection of the great mass of 

the profession4  ,no ,president since   
,reynolds has been so worthy to direct  
the policy of the ,academy1 and it may  
fairly be said that none1 ,reynolds not 
excepted1 has ruled over it with more   
discretion1 or with better appreciation 
of the possibilities of the position4   
,the other event1 the carrying out of   
the ,south ,kensington wall paintings1  
is specially notable because in these   
works ,sir ,frederic ,leighton--he      
received the honour of knighthood on his
 election as ,president--was able to put
 to legitimate uses all his capacities  
as a decorator1 and to prove that in    
paintings on the largest scale he was as
 much a master of his craft as in the   
easel pictures to which1 for want of    
greater opportunities1 he was obliged to
 confine himself4  ,he had made a       
previous experiment in this direction in
 #ahff1 when he executed the fresco of  
,the ,wise and ,foolish ,virgins in the 
church at ,lyndhurst1 an admirable      
composition treated with rare           

intelligence and distinctive            
originality2 but the ,south ,kensington 
lunettes were more exacting             
undertakings1 and calculated to test his
 powers to the utmost4 ,the ,arts of    
,war was begun towards the end of the   
'seventies and took several months to   
finish1 the companion lunette was       
painted two or three years later2 and   
both of them1 though some of the        
preliminary work was done by assistants1
 are substantially from his hand4  ,in  
many respects ,the ,arts of ,war is the 
more satisfying performance4 ,a scene   
from mediaeval ,italian life1 it is     
handled with something of his earlier   
manner1 but with an amount of breadth   
and freshness which he scarcely         
approached in his younger days4  ,it has
 infinite grace without a hint of       
weakness1 firmness without formality1   
and style without conventionality2 and  
it is1 above all1 a true decoration     
erring neither in the direction of      
excessive pictorial effect1 nor in that 

of dull unreality4  ,the ,arts of ,peace
 is less masculine and more studied1 and
 is neither so ingenious in design1 nor 
so happy in its grouping2 though in     
parts it shows quite his finest art1 and
 there are in it individual figures     
which are delightful examples of his    
masterly skill as a draughtsman4  ,it   
suffers1 perhaps1 most of all from the  
want of freedom of brush-work1 and from 
the substitution of an over-careful     
precision of touch for the looser and   
larger handling which is one of the     
sources of the charm of ,the ,arts of   
,war4  ,two other decorative            
achievements must be added to the record
 of ,sir ,frederic's effort in this     
direction1 the ceiling for the          
music-room of ,mr4 ,marquand's house in 
,new ,york1 painted in #ahhf1 and the   
admirable panel1 ,phoenicians ,bartering
 with ,britons1 executed nine years     
later for the ,royal ,exchange4  ,it is 
greatly a matter for regret that it     
should be possible to include in such a 

meagre list practically the whole of the
 artist's work as a serious decoration4 
,it is true that he was concerned in one
 of the many schemes which have been    
devised for the decoration of ,st4      
,paul's ,cathedral1 but this scheme was 
never advanced beyond the preliminary   
stage1 and his part in it is represented
 only by the cartoon symbolical of the  
,resurrection--,and the ,sea gave up the
 ,dead which were in it--which now hangs
 in the ,tate ,gallery4  ,the chances   
which he desired were denied to him1 as 
they were to ,g4 ,f4 ,watts1 and to     
other painters of like ambitions1 and   
the world has in consequence lost much  
which would have been of supreme        
interest4  ,that he1 with his often     
renewed memories of the frescoes of the 
,italian masters1 must have felt        
resentment at the ,british indifference 
to this noble form of art can well be   
imagined4  ,he knew that1 with his      
aspirations1 and his power1 triumphs as 
great as any of the old painters        

achieved were well within his reach1 but
 with all his earnest advocacy1 even he 
was unable to induce the stolid patron  
of art to believe that an artist should 
be encouraged to produce anything but   
canvases of a convenient size1 which    
would serve for the furnishing of modern
 houses4  ,so it comes to this1 that his
 only commission for mural decoration on
 a large scale was for the two lunettes 
at ,south ,kensington2 the ,lyndhurst   
fresco was a gift he made to the church1
 as a thank-offering1 it is said1 for   
his recovery from an illness1 and the   
,marquand ceiling1 the ,resurrection    
cartoon1 and the ,royal ,exchange panel 
were only paintings on canvas4  ,it is a
 poor record1 indeed1 and one of which  
the people in this country have every   
reason to feel ashamed4  ,but the       
thwarting of his ambitions in one       
direction did not make him in others a  
less conscientious artist4  ,the ,arts  
of ,peace was finished during #ahhe1 and
 for another ten years he went on       

painting pictures into which he put all 
his love of ideal beauty1 and all his   
striving for greater perfection of      
technical expression4  ,there is        
certainly no diminution of power to be  
perceived in any of these later works1  
though for some while before his death  
he suffered increasingly from the heart 
trouble to which at last he succumbed on
 ,january #be1 #ahif4    ,,plate        
,,vii4--,,elijah ,,in ,,the ,,wilderness
  7,at the ,walker ,art ,gallery1       
,liverpool7  ,though this canvas is     
scarcely typical of ,leighton's usual   
achievement1 it has a particular value  
as an illustration of his adaptability  
as a painter4  ,the contrast between the
 figure of the ,prophet and that of the 
,angel1 between the rugged vigour of the
 man and the grace of the celestial     
being1 is curiously effective4          
,illustration3 ,,plate ,,vii4--,,elijah 
,,in ,,the ,,wilderness    ,indeed1 it  
was during this last ten years that some
 of the most memorable additions were   

made to the list of his successes4  ,the
 ,last ,watch of ,hero 7#ahhg71 as      
charming in sentiment as in execution2  
the large composition1 ,captive         
,andromache 7#ahhh72 ,the ,bath of      
,psyche 7#ahij71 a delicate piece of    
fancy in his happiest manner2 ,perseus  
and ,andromeda and ,the ,return of      
,persephone1 in #ahia2 ,the ,garden of  
the ,hesperides 7#ahib72 ,hit 7#ahic72  
,summer ,slumber 7#ahid72 ',twixt ,hope 
and ,fear1 and that wonderful study of  
glowing colour1 ,flaming ,june1 in      
#ahie2 and the ,clytie1 which was at    
,burlington ,house after his death1 are 
worthy of praise as generous and        
unhesitating as can be given to anything
 he showed before4  ,the ,bath of       
,psyche and the ,clytie are1 in fact1   
pictures which have few rivals among his
 other works1 the first because of its  
inimitable purity of feeling and classic
 refinement1 the other because of its   
convincing force and dramatic passion4  
,in this last effort of a dying man it  

is easy to find a kind of symbolical    
meaning3 there is a pathetic            
significance in the attitude of the     
nymph who loved the light1 as she kneels
 with arms outstretched towards the     
setting sun4  ,such a conception1 and   
such a treatment of the subject1 typify 
so exactly the sadness of an artist who 
was working actually under the shadow of
 death1 and with full consciousness that
 his days were nearly numbered1 that it 
is difficult not to look upon the       
,clytie as ,leighton's farewell to the  
world in which he had found so much     
beauty and so much brightness4  ,the sun
 was setting for him1 and though he was 
too brave a man to despair or rail at   
fate1 his yearning for a little longer  
spell of sunshine was not to be         
repressed4  ,his death1 which released  
him from sufferings that had towards the
 end become scarcely endurable1 was the 
more pathetic because an honour had just
 been bestowed upon him which showed in 
a most significant fashion how highly   

his claims to special recognition were  
approved4  ,in #ahhf he had been created
 a baronet1 and a bare month before he  
died he was advanced by ,queen ,victoria
 to be a peer of the ,united ,kingdom1  
with the title of ,baron ,leighton of   
,stretton4  ,it is sad1 indeed1 that he 
should not have lived to enjoy a        
distinction which he had so amply       
earned1 and to use his splendid mental  
gifts in the wider sphere of activity   
which was opened up to him by accession 
to the peerage4  ,there was so much he  
might have done1 so much he would have  
wished to do1 to help on those artistic 
movements which were always first in his
 thoughts1 that to have lost him then1  
just as greater opportunities of        
usefulness were promised than had ever  
before been offered to him1 was an      
irreparable disaster for ,british art4  
,as he died his last words were1 ,give  
my love to the ,academy1 that           
institution with which he had been      
associated for more than thirty years1  

and in the service of which nearly half 
his life had been spent4  ,to most      
people it would seem incredible that    
such a career could be spoken of as     
anything but a success1 or that an      
artist so respected and so honoured     
should not be counted among the very few
 to whom fate has been consistently     
kind4  ,and yet to say that ,leighton   
died a disappointed man would not be    
untrue4  ,he had been a great figure    
socially1 he had played his part in     
public as an official with brilliancy   
and distinction1 he had enjoyed the     
friendship of the greatest of his       
contemporaries1 but no one knew better  
than he did that the popular homage was 
offered to his personality rather than  
to his art4  ,he was conscious that he  
had failed to convey to the people among
 whom he lived that aesthetic message   
which was to him so vital and so urgent1
 and that the purpose and principle for 
which he always laboured remained to the
 end unintelligible to the world4  ,he  

felt that the public attitude towards   
him was exactly summed up in that       
cynical saying with which ,whistler has 
been credited3 ,oh yes1 a marvellous    
man6  ,he is a great speaker1 a master  
of many languages1 a fine musician1 a   
leader of society2 and they tell me he  
paints too4  ,that which was to him the 
one thing worth living for seemed to    
every one else the last and least of his
 accomplishments6  ,it is small wonder  
that he can be spoken of as             
disappointed2 he had given so much for  
art1 and in return he was recognised as 
nothing more than an amazingly clever   
man of the world1 who painted pictures  
in his spare moments4  ,yet it can be   
freely admitted that his work was not of
 the kind which was likely to appeal as 
a matter of course to ordinary men4  ,it
 was1 as has been already said1 the     
outcome of his own temperament1 and had 
from the first a specific character     
which was too personal to be wholly     
intelligible to people accustomed to    

look only at the surface of things4  ,it
 must be remembered that he had         
naturally a very remarkable mind1 and   
that he received an education which was 
quite unlike that usually given to men  
who adopt the artist's profession4  ,he 
had a sound basis of book-knowledge1 and
 was taught especially to study and     
understand the classics1 but to this was
 added1 by his prolonged residence      
abroad1 an intimate insight into many   
things which never come within the view 
of the majority of men1 or at best are  
only dealt with in later life when the  
receptivity of youth has become dulled4 
,he was encouraged partly by his        
father's precepts1 partly by            
circumstances1 to analyse and           
investigate1 to compare this and that   
phase of thought and form of expression1
 to seek for the reasons why there      
should be such marked differences       
between the methods of workers who all  
professed to be advocating the same     
principles4  ,superficial information   

could not1 and did not1 satisfy him2 he 
had to get down to the foundation and to
 find out the causes for the results    
which were presented to him4  ,but of   
course when he came to build a system of
 art practice upon his early            
experiences1 and to shape it by the aid 
of his analytical habit1 he evolved     
something which most men could scarcely 
appraise at its full value4  ,therefore1
 his artistic purpose was persistently  
misunderstood and1 it may be added1     
habitually misrepresented4  ,his art was
 over the heads of his contemporaries   
because their tastes and sympathies had 
never been cultivated to his level1     
because their grosser preferences failed
 to find satisfaction in the purity of  
his idealism4  ,he was absorbed always  
in the pursuit of beauty1 which he had  
sought and found in many lands1 and it  
was his earnest desire to give to his   
representations of this beauty a kind of
 unhuman perfection1 passionless1       
perhaps1 and cold1 but exquisite always 

in its studied refinement4  ,no hint of 
coarseness or sensuality ever crept into
 his pictures2 it would be a strangely  
constituted mind indeed that could find 
in his work any suggestiveness1 or      
anything to gratify the baser instincts 
of humanity4  ,he kept aloof from the   
common things of existence1 and lived in
 a self-created paradise to which the   
rest of mankind could hardly hope to    
gain admission4    ,,plate              
,,viii4--,,portrait ,,of ,,sir ,,richard
 ,,burton  7,at the ,national ,portrait 
,gallery1 ,london7  ,it would be no     
exaggeration to describe this painting  
of the famous explorer as one of the    
more notable of modern portraits1 so    
strong is it in characterisation and so 
masterly in manner4  ,the artist was    
fortunate in having a sitter with such a
 striking personality1 and the sitter in
 being painted by a man of ,leighton's  
deep insight and great executive power4 
,illustration3 ,,plate                  
,,viii4--,,portrait ,,of ,,sir ,,richard

 ,,burton    ,his choice of subjects1   
too1 was made with little consideration 
for the prejudices or the wishes of the 
public4  ,it was nothing to him that by 
a course of graceful sentimentality and 
pretty incident he could bring himself  
into a secure haven of popularity4  ,all
 he cared for was that he should have   
scope to exercise his powers of         
invention1 and to develop those         
subtleties of decoration which were1 as 
he held1 of such engrossing interest4   
,whether he decided upon heroic motives 
like the ,hercules ,wrestling with      
,death or ,perseus and ,andromeda1 upon 
dainty fancies like ,cleoboulos         
,instructing his ,daughter ,cleobouline1
 ,greek ,girls ,playing at ,ball1 or    
,winding the ,skein1 or upon simple     
studies of beautiful reality like the   
,noble ,lady of ,venice1 ,kittens1 or   
the ,idyll1 to quote almost at random   
from the long series of his paintings   
which come into this last class1 he     
never allowed himself to forget that the

 result was to be as nearly in          
accordance with his ideals as it could  
be made2 and whether or not this result 
would be what the public expected was   
the last thing about which he concerned 
himself4  ,but it was natural after all 
that he should feel some measure of     
disappointment at the discovery that    
there were so few minds capable of      
apprehending the supreme significance of
 the truths which he sought to teach4   
,as an executant--an exponent of the    
craft of painting--he had certain       
peculiarities4  ,his technique was      
precise1 careful1 and rather laborious1 
without any happy audacities of         
brushwork1 and without any display of   
cleverness for its own sake4  ,it bore  
some resemblance1 perhaps1 to that of   
painters like ,prud'hon or ,ary         
,scheffer1 but it had more vitality1 and
 on the whole more power4  ,leighton1   
like ,g4 ,f4 ,watts1 did not attach much
 importance to that ready directness of 
handling which is so greatly advocated  

by men of the modern school2 the finish 
and elaboration of surface which he     
desired were not to be obtained by      
treating his picture as if it were to be
 no more than a brilliant sketch4  ,he  
aimed at exhaustive accuracy of drawing1
 exact correctness of modelling1 the    
perfecting of every detail1 and the     
equal completion of all the parts of his
 canvas2 and this manner of working led 
necessarily to sacrifice of spontaneity 
of touch4  ,but1 on the other hand1 it  
did not result in fumbling1 or in that  
tentative kind of method which can be   
noted in the performances of artists who
 are uncertain of their power to solve  
the more serious executive problems4 ,he
 had a regular system by which his      
pictures were built up stage by stage1  
and he knew perfectly well how far each 
stage could carry him towards the end he
 had in view1 and how much it would     
contribute to the pictorial scheme he   
had devised4  ,his method was his own1  
and1 being his own1 he used to say that 

it was the only one which it was right  
for him to use1 though for a man with   
other purposes in art1 and another kind 
of temperament1 it would probably be    
entirely wrong4  ,this mode of practice1
 however1 served ,leighton well in      
nearly everything he undertook4  ,it    
enabled him to give charm and delicacy  
to his figure subjects1 and wonderful   
virility and strength to his portraits1 
and in the painting of the landscapes   
which he so often used as backgrounds to
 his figure compositions1 it helped him 
to attain an admirable serenity and     
breadth of effect4  ,where it led him   
astray was in his treatment of drapery1 
which under his deliberate method was   
apt to become lifeless through its very 
excess of realism4  ,the masses of his  
draperies he designed with dignity1 with
 a fine sense of line1 and with a proper
 feeling for the forms of the figure    
beneath1 but these masses he often cut  
up by a multiplicity of little folds1   
all so precisely drawn and carefully    

accounted for that they conveyed to the 
eye a map-like impression of lines      
without meaning1 and surfaces without   
modelling4  ,he seemed to have worried  
over them until he had lost by needless 
intricacy all largeness of suggestion4  
,but in his portraits he maintained with
 rare discretion the right proportion   
between large character1 and the little 
things by which the individuality of a  
face is determined4  ,his heads of ,sir 
,richard ,burton and ,professor ,costa1 
for instance1 are magnificent and give  
him undoubtedly a place among the       
masters of portraiture4  ,if an attempt 
were made to explain in a few words     
,leighton's position in art1 it would   
probably be most correct to say that he 
was1 by instinct and habit of mind1 more
 a sculptor than a painter4  ,he looked 
at nature with a sculptor's eye1 and he 
adopted a kind of technical process     
which in its progressive building up was
 closely akin to modelling4  ,and if    
pictures like his ,phryne1 his          

,clytemnestra1 his ,electra1 and even   
his wholly charming ,bath of ,psyche1   
are considered from this point of view1 
their resemblance to beautifully tinted 
sculpture is apparent enough4  ,even his
 ,cimabue's ,madonna and the            
,daphnephoria suggest bas-reliefs4      
,that he had the sculptor's habit of    
mind is proved by many of his studies in
 which he drew a figure1 or group of    
figures1 from three or four points of   
view1 so as to arrive at what may be    
called the anatomy of the pose4  ,but   
discussions as to his right to be       
described as a sculptor who chose to    
give himself up to painting1 or as a    
painter who had all the qualifications  
to become a master of sculpture1 are a  
little futile4 ,he was a great artist   
and he proved his powers in both forms  
of practice4  ,what is more material is 
that people should learn to do justice  
to his greatness1 and should try to     
estimate at its proper worth everything 
that he did4  ,to scoff at his art1 as  

the unthinking are ready to do1 is utter
 folly2 to say that he has no place in  
art history1 as a certain school of     
critics are in the habit of asserting1  
is merely stupid prejudice2 he will in  
years to come1 when the memories of his 
wonderful personality have died away1 be
 accepted on his work alone as one of   
the noblest teachers of the fundamental 
principles of the best and purest type  
of aestheticism4  ,his time has not yet 
arrived2 had he lived three or four     
centuries ago he would be honoured now  
as a master4  ,because he was a man of  
the nineteenth century our familiarity  
with him has bred1 if not actually      
contempt1 at least a habit of           
undervaluing him which is almost as     
unreasonable4     ,,printed ,,in ,,great
 ,,britain4