His Early Life

Lord Frederic Leighton (1830-1896) was one of the most famous 19th-century British painters. His works depict, majorly, historical, biblical and classical subject matter. Lord Leighton was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire to a family in the import and export business. He received his formal education at University College School, London. Lord Leighton completed his legal training on the European continent, first from Edward von Steine and then from Viovanni Costa. He always drew comfort from his family’s fortune as his father was paying him an allowance throughout his life. Though his parents never objected to his choice of career as a painter, they always insisted that if at all he wanted to be one, he should be able to achieve excellence in that field.

Leighton Liked Travelling

Leighton was travelling from an early age. His mother did not like the polluted environment in Britain and she insisted on her family spending time in Europe. This provided an opportunity to Leighton to travel all over Europe. Leighton could speak many European languages such as French, German, Italian and Spanish. He went to Africa, his first trip, at the age of 27, visiting Algeria. Leighton’s constant travelling and studying abroad made some Englishmen suspect his being really English. These arguments from his own countrymen seemed to find logical support from his appearance and mannerisms that are not the real essentials of the Victorian ways.

He Met Famous Painters in Europe

Leighton preferred to paint subjects from Greek and Roman mythology. His intention was to make his paintings visually beautiful. Monet, Renoir and other famous Impressionist painters in Paris and London were Leighton’s contemporaries. Leighton’s role at the Royal Academy included educating younger artists. When he was in Florance at his 24 years of age, he painted ‘the procession of the Cimabue Madonna through the Borgo Allegri’. During his stay in Paris from 1855 to 1859, he met Ingres, Delacroix, Corot and Millet.

His Sculpture and Knighthood

Leighton moved back to London in 1860. He designed Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s tomb for Robert Browing in the “English” cemetery, Florance in 1861. He became an associate of the Royal Academy in 1864 and its president in 1878. Leighton sculpted the ‘Athlete Wrestling with a Python’ in 1877, which is referred to as the New Sculpture. Baron Leighton was knighted at Windsor in 1878. Thus he became the first painter to receive a peerage in the Honors List of 1896. The patent creating him ‘Baron Leighton of Stretton in the County of Shropshire’ was issued on Jan 24, 1896, and he died of ‘angina Pectoris the very next day.

Height of Success

Leighton succeeded in becoming an eminent artist when Queen Victoria bought his first painting in 1855. He became the President of the Royal Academy of Arts. Frederic Leighton became ‘Frederic Lord Leighton, Baron of Stretton‘ when he was ‘Knighted’ in 1896. Unfortunately, this ennobling event happened just before his death due to heart failure in 1896. He was the only British artist to have been awarded this honour.

‘Music Lesson’

Lord Frederic Leighton was a distinguished 19th-century British painter. Among others, Leighton created many works depicting the female forms involved in the interaction as mothers with their children. ‘Music Lesson‘ is one such painting that shows a mother engaging herself in teaching her lively daughter how to play a stringed musical instrument. Leighton completed this work,’ Music Lesson’ in 1877. He laid greater emphasis on the portrayal of the flowing garments of both the mother and the child in this painting.

‘Flaming June’

Experts feel that Baron Leighton’s painting ‘Flaming June‘ is the most recognisable and best-loved work. The painting is an image of splendid beauty and a rapturous symphony of color and composition. The painting is the depiction of a sleeping girl and scholars feel that the painting is meant to instil sensuous thoughts mainly in the male audiences. Though the model in Flaming June was probably not nude, the fiery garments certainly arouse the senses of the audience.

Hid Death and After

Lord Frederic Leighton is best known as an Olympian. This is because he was one of that group of artists who painted subjects from Greek and Roman mythology. Baron Leighton died unmarried in 1897. Barely a day after he received the honour of knighthood, his Barony became extinguished after his death. His house in Holland Park, London became the Leighton House Museum. This museum houses a number of his paintings, drawings, sculptures, including the famed ‘Athlete Wrestling with a Python. The magnificent Arab Hall is the centrepiece of the museum.

His Well-known Paintings

Some of Leighton’s well-known paintings include, ‘Flaming June’, ‘Cimabue’s Celebrated Madonna’, ‘Cymon and Iphigenia’, ‘The Painter’s Honeymoon, ‘Perseus and Andromeda’, ‘The Fisherman and the Siron’, ‘Captive Andromache’, ‘Phoebe’, ‘Light of the Harem’, ‘Daedalus and Icarus’, ‘The Garden of the Hesperides’, ‘Winding the Skein’, ‘Music Lesson’, ‘Hercules Wrestling with Death for the Body of Alcestis’ etc.