Frederick Leighton Baron Leighton

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Leighton, Frederic ( Baron Leighton of Stretton) (b Scarborough, 3 Dec. 1830; d London, 25 Jan. 1896). English painter and sculptor, one of the dominant figures of late Victorian art. The son of a doctor who gave up his practice and travelled widely on the Continent, Leighton gained his artistic education successively in Frankfurt, Rome, and Paris. It was not until 1859 that he settled in England, but he had earlier made his name with Cimabue's Celebrated Madonna is Carried in Procession through the Streets of Florence, which he painted in Rome; it was exhibited at the 1855 Royal Academy exhibition and bought by Queen Victoria (it is now on loan from the Royal Collection to the National Gallery, London). In spite of this success, Leighton was for several years regarded as an alien presence in the British art world, but from the mid-1860s he enjoyed a degree of worldly success that was matched perhaps only by Millais, his almost exact contemporary; he became president of the Royal Academy in 1878, was made a baronet in 1886, and a few days before he died was raised to the peerage, the first English artist to be so honoured. Intelligent, cultured, and of distinguished appearance (although rather austere), he was one of the chief adornments of London society. His varied output included portraits and book illustrations, but he is best known for his paintings of classical Greek subjects, the finest of which are distinguished by magnificently opulent colouring as well as splendid draughtsmanship (Garden of the Hesperides, 1892, Lady Lever AG, Port Sunlight). As a sculptor he is best known for the bronze Athlete Struggling with a Python (1874–7), which can be seen in Leighton House (on loan from Tate Britain), the sumptuously decorated house and studio he built in Holland Park Road, Kensington, now a Leighton museum.

Leighton, Frederic ( Baron Leighton of Stretton) (1830–96). English painter and sculptor, one of the dominant figures of late Victorian art. He travelled widely in Europe as a boy and his artistic education was gained successively in Frankfurt, Rome, and Paris. It was not until 1859 that he settled in England, but he had earlier made his name with Cimabue's Celebrated Madonna is Carried in Procession through the Streets of Florence, which he painted in Rome; it was exhibited at the 1855 Royal Academy exhibition and bought by Queen Victoria (it is now on loan from the Royal Collection to the National Gallery, London). In spite of this success, Leighton was for several years regarded as an alien presence in the British art world, but from the mid-1860s he enjoyed a degree of worldly success that was matched perhaps only by Millais, his almost exact contemporary; he became president of the Royal Academy in 1878, was made a baronet in 1886, and a few days before he died was raised to the peerage, the first English artist to be so honoured. Intelligent, cultured, and of distinguished appearance (although rather austere), he was one of the chief adornments of London society. His varied output included portraits and book illustrations, but he is best known for his paintings of classical Greek subjects, the finest of which are distinguished by magnificently opulent colouring as well as splendid draughtsmanship (Garden of the Hesperides, 1892, Lady Lever AG, Port Sunlight). As a sculptor he is best known for the bronze Athlete Struggling with a Python (1874–7), which can be seen in Leighton House (on loan from Tate Britain), the sumptuously decorated house and studio he built in Holland Park Road, Kensington, now a Leighton museum.

Leighton, Frederic (1830–96). Painter. Born in Scarborough, the son of a doctor, Leighton studied art in Frankfurt, Rome, and Paris. Talented and personable, he soon had several wealthy patrons. In 1854 Thackeray warned Millais: ‘look to your laurels: there is a young fellow in Rome called Leighton, who will one day be President of the Royal Academy.’ The following year he exhibited at the academy Cimabue's Madonna Carried in Procession through the Streets of Florence. It was purchased by Queen Victoria: ‘Albert was enchanted with it and made me buy it.’ Leighton was elected ARA in 1864 and duly made president in 1878. Among his best paintings are a portrait of Sir Richard Burton (1875) and The Garden of the Hesperides (1892). He suffered increasingly from poor health and was given a barony on his death-bed: this unique peerage lasted only one day. Sir Walter Armstrong, writing in the DNB, admitted Leighton's technical skill, but observed disparagingly that, as a painter, ‘he had nothing particular to say’. His house in Holland Park Road, London, built in 1865, is now a museum.

June Cochrane

Frederick Leighton Leighton, Baron , 1830-96, English painter and sculptor. He studied in Florence. His first exhibited picture, which showed Cimabue's Madonna being carried through the streets of Florence, was purchased by Queen Victoria in 1855. Leighton was president of the Royal Academy from 1878 until his death. His popular pictures dealt with subjects taken from antiquity.

Bibliography: See biography by E. Rhys (3d ed. 1900); M. H. Shackford, The Brownings and Leighton (1942); W. Gaunt, Victorian Olympus (1952).

Leighton, Frederic (1830–96). Painter. Born in Scarborough, the son of a doctor, Leighton studied art in Frankfurt, Rome, and Paris. Talented and personable, he soon had several wealthy patrons. Leighton was elected ARA in 1864 and made president in 1878. Among his best paintings are a portrait of Sir Richard Burton (1875) and The Garden of the Hesperides (1892). He suffered increasingly from poor health and was given a barony on his death‐bed: this unique peerage lasted only one day.