Frederic Lord Leighton Part 6

[Ill.u.s.tration: STUDY FOR THE CEILING OF A MUSIC-ROOM]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.trations: DECORATION FOR THE CEILING OF A MUSIC-ROOM]

We have had occasion to refer frequently, in pa.s.sing, to Leighton's decorative works, but we have purposely deferred any description of them, preferring to treat them separately. To know how present was his feeling for decorative effect at all times, it is sufficient to glance never so casually at his own house, about which we hope presently to say something,--genuine expression as it is of his Art. Now we wish rather to touch on his more public performances. Of these, the famous frescoes which fill large lunettes in the central court at South Kensington, _The Industrial Arts of War_ and _The Industrial Arts of Peace_, are the best known, as they are among the most characteristic of all the artist's productions.

The fresco of _The Arts of War_ is a very complex piece of work. It is crowded with figures, full of that orderly disorder which one must expect to find, on the hurried morning of a day of battle, in these delightfully decorative warriors. "In the centre"--we quote here Mrs.

Lang's description--"is a white marble staircase, leading from the quadrangle to an archway, beyond which is another courtyard. Seen through the archway, knights are riding by.... The busy scene in the courtyard suggests an immediate departure to the seat of war. In the corner to the right crossbows are being chosen and tested; a man is kneeling by a pile of swords, and descanting on their various merits to an undecided customer, while those weapons that he has already disposed of are having their blades tried and felt. A little way off, to the left of the archway, some men-at-arms are trying on the armour of a youth who has still to win his spurs.... The whole is distinguished by the extreme naturalness and simplicity of all the actions, and by soft, glowing colours, chiefly dark olive green and splendid saffrons."

In _The Arts of Peace_, its companion, the central portion of the fresco is devised as the interior of a Greek house, where within a semicircular alcove we see a number of Greek maidens and older women, delightfully grouped, mainly occupied in the art of personal adornment. Before this house is the waterside, with a very decorative boat, confined by a gracefully-looped chain, whose curve, as it hangs, is very subtly designed to complete the salient lines of the whole composition. On either side of this interior we have groups of men, more vigorously treated,--drawing water, bearing burdens, pushing a boat from land. The total effect of these finely posed contrasted groups, of the admirably architectured walls, piers, and pavements, and of the striking background, as of another hill-crowned Athens, is most complete and satisfying. The colouring throughout, diversified with extreme art as it is, is full of that southern radiance, and clear, sunlit glamour, so often found in the artist's pictures. To realize this fully, South Kensington must be visited, for word-painting at its best but poorly reproduces the art that it doubtfully imitates.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FRESCO: THE INDUSTRIAL ARTS OF WAR (1872)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FRESCO: THE INDUSTRIAL ARTS OF PEACE (1873)]

But these were by no means the first attempts of the artist to acclimatize the n.o.blest form of mural decoration, which cannot even at this date be regarded as fully naturalized amongst us. In 1866 he commenced work on a fresco of _The Wise and Foolish Virgins_, which forms the altarpiece of the beautiful modern church at Lyndhurst, erected on the site of the older building commemorated in Charles Kingsley's ballad. This painting still remains a lasting attraction to visitors in the New Forest village. In the centre, the Bridegroom, clad in white, bearing lilies in His left hand, extends His right to the foremost of the five wise virgins. Angels at each side of the central figure welcome the one group, and repel the other. On the extreme right is a kneeling figure, "Ora;" on the left, "Vigila," a figure tr.i.m.m.i.n.g a lamp. The scale of the figures is over life-size, and the unfortunate position of the work, immediately under a large east window, so that the figures appear standing on the altar, has provoked adverse criticism; but the painting itself, as a triumphant accomplishment of a peculiarly difficult undertaking, and a superb scheme of line and colour, has won favourable comments at all times. It was painted in the medium, a mixture of copal, wax, resin, and oil, previously employed with success by Mr. Gambier Parry in his decorations for Ely Cathedral.

It is interesting to read the account of the execution of this work, which is said to have been carried out chiefly on Sat.u.r.day afternoons, the artist catching a mid-day train from town, and working on it from the moment of his arrival until dusk. Experience of the London and South Western Railway Company thirty years ago makes one doubt whether leaving town at mid-day should not be taken as arriving at Lyndhurst Road at that time, for otherwise it would have been a miracle to accomplish the task by daylight. It is, however, exhilarating to find that the sustained enthusiasm of the young artist was equal to the effort involved in mastering so many obstacles; for the result, despite the increased attention given to decoration in these later years, may even now be considered, so far as modern ecclesiastical painting is concerned, to be without a rival in England.

The beautiful _Cupid with Doves_, is also said to be from a fresco; whether a genuine painting on the wall itself (after the true fresco manner) or not, it has the larger qualities peculiar to the method which distinguishes several other works that were certainly not executed in this medium,--the latest of Leighton's mural decorations, for example, a painting of _Phoenicians Bartering with Britons_, which the President of the Royal Academy in 1895 presented as the first of a series of panels in the Royal Exchange. Although, as this was painted on canvas, it cannot be ranked as a legitimate successor in the direct line of the Lyndhurst and South Kensington frescoes, it is marked by many of the architectural qualities which distinguish a painting designed to be in true relation to the planes of its surroundings, and employs a convention which makes it appear an integral part of the wall surface, not a mere panel accidentally placed within a frame supplied by the features of the building itself.

The South Kensington frescoes, as we have before stated, were painted in 1872-3. Some ten years later Sir Frederic collaborated with Sir Edward (then Mr.) Poynter in the decoration of the dome of St. Paul's. His share was to have filled eight _medallions_, so called, in the compartments into which his colleague divided the dome. The design for one of these, _The Sea gave up the Dead which were in it_, was exhibited at the Academy of 1892, and is now among the works presented by Mr. Tate to the National Gallery of British Art. This is another treatment of a great subject, in which the problem of reconciling the dramatic with the decorative has been seriously attempted. The dome of St. Paul's, had it been completed according to this scheme, might have been a worthy if a somewhat academic presentation of the tremendous visions of the Apocalypse.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CUPID: FROM A FRESCO]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PHOENICIANS BARTERING WITH BRITONS PANEL IN THE ROYAL EXCHANGE (1895)]

Certain others of Leighton's decorative works we have already mentioned, such as the design for a ceiling, now in New York. Not so well known is his frieze delineating a dance, for an English drawing-room; or the small frieze with a design of Dolphins, also in England. A scheme in water-colours for a mural decoration, ent.i.tled _The Departure for the War_, was never carried out; the sketch for it was sold with the remaining works at Christie's, July, 1896. The single figures in mosaic of _Cimabue_ and _Pisano_, at the South Kensington Museum, must not be forgotten.

To the public--or at least that portion which limits its art to the exhibitions of the Royal Academy--Leighton, as we have seen, made his _debut_ as a sculptor with the group, _An Athlete struggling with a Python_ (known also as _An Athlete strangling a Python_), which in the bronze version is now among works purchased under the terms of the Chantrey bequest in the Tate Gallery. But long before that date he had successfully essayed plastic art; his first effort being for the medallion of a monument to Mrs. Browning in the Protestant cemetery at Florence. Two other monuments, to the memory of Major Sutherland Orr (his sister's husband), and Lady Charlotte Greville, must also be mentioned. We have already spoken of _The Athlete_, _The Sluggard_, and _Needless Alarms_. But it would be unfair to omit mention of many small works--small, that is to say, in scale, for they are distinguished by great breadth of handling--which were prepared as auxiliary studies for his paintings. Visitors to the studio in Holland Park Road, were always impressed by several of these models, which stood on a large chest in the bay of a great studio window. Especially noteworthy was a group of three singing maidens, who figure in _The Daphnephoria_, and another of the "choragus" for the same picture; for later works, the mounted Perseus, and Andromeda with the monster, both designed for the picture of that legend. Others belonging to a slightly earlier period included--the sleeping Iphigenia, a crouching figure of her attendant, and a nude figure of Cymon, all, of course, for _Cymon and Iphigenia_.

These models were made to be clad in wet drapery of exquisitely fine texture, and were prepared only for ten minutes' drawing of the first idea of the figures; all serious study being made from the draped model, or the lay figure. Such help as they have rendered must all be referred to the period before the finished cartoon was ready to be traced on the canvas. Since Lord Leighton's decease most of these have been successfully cast in bronze, and are the property of the Royal Academy.

In the studio were also the first sketches in clay for _The Sluggard_, and also for _The Athlete_, which was not originally intended to be carried further. Indeed, several people mistook it for a genuine antique, and admired it accordingly; Dalou, the great French sculptor, was especially so struck by it, that he advised its author to work out the idea in full size. The three years' labour devoted to the task, the failures by the way, and its ultimate triumphant success, both here and in Paris, are too well known to need recapitulation. A replica was commissioned for the Copenhagen Gallery, and probably no work of its accomplished author did more to win him the appreciation of French and German artists.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BRONZE STATUE: AN ATHLETE STRUGGLING WITH A PYTHON (1877)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: BRONZE STATUE: AN ATHLETE STRUGGLING WITH A PYTHON (1877)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: STUDY IN CLAY FOR "CYMON"]

[Ill.u.s.tration: STUDY IN CLAY FOR "THE SLUGGARD"]

[Ill.u.s.tration: STUDY IN CLAY FOR "PERSEUS"]

[Ill.u.s.tration: STUDY IN CLAY FOR "ANDROMEDA"]

In this brief mention of Lord Leighton's achievements in sculpture, the medal commemorating the Jubilee of Queen Victoria, a study for which is reproduced at p. 130, must not be overlooked.

Although to those who have not followed closely the splendid period of English ill.u.s.tration which may be said to have reached its zenith at the time when Dalziel's "Bible Gallery" was published, it may be a surprise to find "Frederic Leighton" figuring as an ill.u.s.trator, yet the nine compositions in that book are by no means his sole contribution to the art of black and white.

For each instalment of "Romola," as it ran through the pages of the "Cornhill Magazine," the artist contributed a full page drawing, and an initial letter. The twenty-four full pages were afterwards reprinted in "The Cornhill Gallery" (Smith and Elder, 1865). These are most notable works, even when measured by the standard of their contemporaries. The same magazine contains two other works from his pen, one ill.u.s.trating a poem, "The great G.o.d Pan," by Mrs. Browning, and another ill.u.s.trating a story by Mrs. Sartoris, ent.i.tled "A Week in a French Country House."

These, and the nine compositions in the "Bible Gallery" (the pictures from which have lately been re-issued in a popular form by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge) exhaust the list of those which can be traced. As four of the magnificent designs are reproduced here, it would be superfluous to describe them; the t.i.tles of the five others are: _Abram and the Angel_, _Eliezer and Rebekah_, _Death of the First Born_, _The Spies' Escape_, and _Samson at the Mill_.

One of the original drawings on wood is now on view at the South Kensington Museum, and, by comparison with impressions from the engraved blocks, we see how small has been the loss in translation, so admirably has the artist mastered the limitation of the technique that was to represent his work in another medium. The reproductions here given are considerably reduced, and necessarily lose something, but they retain enough to prove that had the artist cared to rest his reputation upon such works, he might have done so with a light heart, for whenever the golden period of English ill.u.s.tration is recalled, these comparatively few drawings will inevitably be recalled with it.

A photographic silver-print from a drawing which forms the frontispiece to a little book of fairy tales is of hardly sufficient importance--charming though its original must have been--to be included among the book ill.u.s.trations. The drawing, _A Contrast_, reproduced at p. 72, is undated; the idea it is intended to suggest, a model who once stood for some youthful G.o.d, revisiting the adolescent portrait of himself when old age has him gripped fast with rheumatism and failing vigour.

To-day, when one has heard sculptors claim that Lord Leighton's finest work was in their own craft, one has also heard many ill.u.s.trators not merely extol these drawings--notably the Bible subjects--as his masterpieces, but jealously refuse to consider him ent.i.tled to serious regard as an artist in any other medium. This att.i.tude, so curiously unlike the usual welcome from experts which awaits an artist who ventures into fresh mediums for expressing himself, should be put on record as a unique tribute; the more worthy of attention, because in each instance it was advanced not wholly as praise, but to some extent as a reproach on Leighton's painting. No intended compliment could carry more genuine appreciation than this warm approval from fellow experts in the special subjects of which they are masters.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CAIN AND ABEL]

[Ill.u.s.tration: MOSES VIEWS THE PROMISED LAND]

[Ill.u.s.tration: SAMSON AND THE LION]

[Ill.u.s.tration: SAMSON CARRYING THE GATES]

CHAPTER VIII

DISCOURSES ON ART

We must next speak of the late President's Addresses and Discourses on Art, and of that other art of oratory, which, we shall find, as he conceived it, had something of the same monumental quality he imparted to his painting. His presidential speeches at the annual banquet of the Academy would alone be sufficient to show this; but it is of course to his Addresses and Discourses that we must turn if we would understand his feeling for the two unallied arts.