The Life, Letters and Work of Frederic Leighton Volume I Part 28

[Ill.u.s.tration: CA' D'ORO, VENICE. WATER COLOUR. 1856]

FLORENCE, _11th October 1856_.

DEAREST MAMMY,--I wonder whether you are coming to Florence, and, if so, how long you are going to stay. I suppose you will go to the Hotel du Nord as in old times--I go there invariably, and write now from my own particular room. I wrote to you last from Venice, where I spent ten days in a very satisfactory manner between work and _flanerie_ of an artistic description--indeed I _flaned_ this time with more advantage than hitherto, for I went more closely than I had yet done into the _architecture_ of Venice, studying the different masters, their different styles and relative merit; I need not say that I found this extremely interesting. Fred c.o.c.kerell, a young architect friend of mine, was there with Villers Lister, another very nice boy, a London acquaintance of mine. We were a great deal together, and they accompanied me to Padua, where I left them doing _Giotto_, which I would most willingly have done myself if I had not been hard pressed for time. In the painting line I only made one sketch, a Bonifazio of the first water, which will figure very satisfactorily on my studio wall; it took me a good deal of time, and is on the whole, I think, very fair. In Florence I have had one or two great disappointments which have rather diminished my enjoyment of this loveliest place. I expected confidently to find both Browning and his wife and Lyons. Neither of them are here, the former not having yet returned from the North, and the latter having been called home to see his father, who is very ailing.

I have seen the Fenzis, who received me with their wonted cordiality, and am going to-day to call on the Maquays. I am here too short a time to work, beyond a pencil sketch or two, and am off for dear old Rome on Friday morning as ever is. I shall stay there till I find a studio, which I hope won't be long, and shall then rush off to Cervara in the mountains to paint.

Good-bye, Mammikins. Give my best love to all, and believe me your loving boy,

FRED.

In Rome Leighton received the following from his friend Mr.

Cartwright:--

AYNHOE, _September 26, 1856_.

MY DEAR LEIGHTON,--Truly was I delighted with your letter, so that in spite of my "nature to" I gulped my huff, though I was like to choke; but self-interest is a wonderful smoothener, and as I want you to do something for me I mean to behave myself. Leighton, by the squints which you shot over my park from your outspread umbrella, by those you are hereafter to shoot, by Tokay cup and venison hash--by anything you like, I want you to belumber yourself with some ripe _stone pinecones_, and a hundred cork acorns. I have found a _true_ legitimate stone pine about forty to fifty feet high on my property, and as for the cork trees you have seen the one in my garden, and therefore, I do not see why I should not have a lot in the park. They can only be raised from acorns. Now, _if_ you could take steps to get me _these_ things--G.o.d! I don't know what I would not do for you, and how would we enjoy it in years to come to watch the growth of our trees. It is a _national_ object. You may have some difficulty in getting the acorns and cones; Pantaleone or Erhardt might perhaps mention to you some gardener who would procure them. _You_ know probably the trees would get to be called L. pines and Leighton oaks, which is one way to immortality if Orpheus and Eurydices won't help you. I wrote to Mason about the pines; by all means _make_ him answer, the exertion will do him good, he _wants_ exercise, and therefore don't get on with his work. My G.o.d! when I came in at twelve to-day he was not up!

How I envy you at Rome when I think of it; how would I _enjoy_ being there, and yet I can't help thinking of ----'s death at the same time. Remember me to little Cornhill and every Roman who remembers me. Write Poste Restante, Paris. I go there, I believe, next week, but _where_ I shall be the winter ----?

Forster is in the Westminster--be d----d to it for stale wine that it is. As for Mason, make him write, and believe me, yours affectionately,

W.C.C.

ROME, _October 14, 1856_.

DEAREST MAMMA,--I have delayed writing to you for a few days in the hope of finding a letter from you in answer to my last; however, as the posts here are frightfully irregular, and I think it very possible your answer may have been lost, I wait no longer. I enclose two little criticisms on my "Romeo" and "Venus," which will I think please Papa and you, and which were sent me through Mrs. Sartoris by Henry Greville.[68]

There is, however, not the remotest chance of my selling them at Manchester, and I am considering where to show them next. I am trying here in Rome (where I shall stay till the end of October) to make up by rigid economy for the expense inevitably incurred by living at inns all the way here. I can't tell you what a delight it was to me to see this dear old place again. Everything is so unaltered since I left it, that I felt on returning exactly as if I was coming home from a drive instead of a lengthened absence. The frescoes which I knew so well were as new to me again from their colossal grandeur, and I wished I could spend a month or so exclusively copying in the Sixtina. My picture, though not well _seen_, is not particularly badly _hung_, but it can only be seen from a distance, so that the expressions are almost entirely lost; it does not look so well as in my studio. The Pre-Raphaelites are very striking, full of talent and industry, but unpleasant to the eye. Meanwhile they have the day. Colnaghi told me that he _thought_ he could sell "Romeo" if I made the price _four hundred_, and said I could do it without derogating, as it went through his, a dealer's, hands. I consulted Henry and Mrs. S., who strongly advised me to follow his advice. I have done so. May it bring me luck. If the remarks you quote, dear Mamma, are meant to apply to my relation with Mrs. Sartoris, I can only say, that as I have derived from her more moral improvement and refinement (you know it), and from her circle more intellectual advantage than from _all my other acquaintances_ put together twice over, I can't join with Mrs.

Whatshername in apprehending "a great number of inconveniences."

In a later letter Leighton announces the sale of the "Romeo"

picture:--

The "Romeo," which had the best place in the Exhibition, has been sold for 400, which to me represents _360_ after deduction of percentage. They have in a most slovenly way sold my picture for pounds though marked _guineas_, they want to know if I claimed the difference; as they have behaved without sufficient _egard_ about other things also, I have directed the secretary in England to say that I should like the error to be rectified, though I do _not_ wish the sale to be cancelled on that account if it be too late. I don't want to miss the money of course, but I have no idea of such negligence on their part.

You see, dear Mamma, that my little pension to Lud has become, for this year at least, so easy that I have scarcely any merit left.

19 QUEEN STREET, MAYFAIR.

DEAREST MAMMA,--Having arrived in London, and been to the Palace to see my picture, I hasten both to tell you the result of my inspection and to answer your very kind letter to Paris which, like an a.s.s that I am, I have neglected to bring with me. The damage to my picture is trifling and easily remediable, having arisen in no way from the precarious nature of paint or varnish, but from a faulty canvas, and probable rough usage in moving. I shall set all right in a few days; the holes or raw places are in the sky, and luckily not near the faces. I have not yet seen Colonel Phipps, and am waiting for further instructions; the Court I shall of course not see, as it is at Windsor.

I don't remember whether I told you that I got an invitation from Manchester to exhibit next spring, and having nothing to send but "Cimabue," have respectfully applied to the Queen through Colonel Phipps to obtain it of her for that occasion.

I am truly sorry not to see you all but as you say, I can't afford it; indeed, I write now partly to ask Papa to send me some money, the 50 he gave me in the middle of August when I started are not only gone, but scarcely took me back to Paris, and but for Petre, whom I met coming back from Naples, and who lent me a trifle with most friendly alacrity, I should have been frightfully pinched; the first part of my journey being all travelling, and hotel life was very dear. In Rome, however, I lived for nothing, and sailed from Civita Vecchia to Ma.r.s.eilles "before the mast," a thing I will never do again if I can help it, but which enabled me just to get home to Paris within a few francs of the 50. Meanwhile I have no hesitation in saying that I never spent three months more profitably or more agreeably. I suppose Papa kindly paid my last quarter as I asked him, but not having received your letter I don't in reality know.

P. Delaroche is dead, I am sorry to say. Going through Paris I went to see Rob. Fleury, who with characteristic kindness put me up to several dodges in picture-restoring with a reference to "Cimabue"--invaluable information.

After doing what was required to the Buckingham Palace picture, Leighton returned to Paris, where he wrote the following to Steinle:--

_Translation._]

21 RUE PIGALLE, _1st December_.

DEAR FRIEND AND MASTER,--I read with real distress the sad news of your severe loss, but sincere and deep as is my sympathy, I pa.s.s on in silence, for in such an hour of trial there is but one comfort for you, and that not from man.

I should no doubt have come back to you from Rome in the beginning of October, but I had to go to England, where I spent three weeks, and am consequently now just established again in Paris. My Italian journey afforded me in every way the greatest pleasure and edification, and I seem now for the first to have grasped the greatness of the Campagna and the giant loftiness of Michael Angelo; still the dear old town, now as ever, is quite unchanged. The good Cornelius is so cheerful and friendly that it is a real pleasure; he has finished some works which have much beauty in the design, but, quite in confidence, they are nevertheless a trifle "solite cose," and much too weakly drawn: from a man who makes claims to style, one expects something more of solidity. Cornelius is a richly and powerfully endowed man, but he does the young generation no good; if young people would only look at work of Michael Angelo's! I except the sculptor Willig, he is a famous fellow, and also an agreeable man. I was glad to meet Gamba again, but unfortunately I did not see any work of his.

Dear Friend, in spite of all my efforts I could nowhere find the right garment for your composition, and learnt only after a long search what is properly the official dress; I learnt at last from the custodian of the Sixtina, who inquired from the head "Ceremoniere," that the cardinal in these days wears the Cappa Magna _pavonazza_, not the _red_.[69] The costume therefore is: purple undergarment, _lace shirt_ (rochetto), cappa magna of violet _cloth_ (those in the _Charwache_ will wear no _silk_), black shoes, four-cornered hood, and gloves with the ring; I enclose a drawing of the real confessional in St. Peter's Church; I hope it may be of use to you. Dear master, how can you possibly _excuse_ yourself for closing your letter with a word of true and wise advice! You know that I owe to you, and to no one else, the whole of my serious education, and am proud of it.

If you do not get the work at Cologne, it will be a downright infamy and a dirtiness without parallel; but I hope for the best.

How I should like to see your "Marriage at Cana."

Keep in remembrance your loving pupil,

FRED LEIGHTON.

_Translation._]

_Sat.u.r.day, 9th May 1857._

MY DEAR FRIEND AND MASTER,--Your letter, just received, has given me intense pleasure. Your constant and affectionate remembrance of a pupil who is under so many obligations to you, rejoices my heart. On this occasion, however, your letter was particularly welcome, because I had already begun to worry myself a little about your long silence, and was almost afraid you might imagine that I had not exerted myself sufficiently in the matter of your cardinal.

But first of all I offer my best congratulations on the completion of the Cologne affair, and on the splendid field which is offered to you also in Munster. At last you have work which is worthy of your abilities and your efforts, and will give them scope. With such employment I must not regret that I shall not have the pleasure of seeing you again in Paris. That I have not seen the "Marriage of Cana" is, I candidly confess, a source of regret to me; I know the design of the composition, and should have liked extremely to have seen how it has turned out. When shall I see one of your works again?

What shall I tell you about myself, my dear friend? I am getting on with my pictures, and have now got them all three into a fairly forward state of _under_-painting; completion, however, will only be reached in the course of next winter, for I intend to execute them with minute care. I have simplified my method of painting, and foresworn all _tricks_.

I endeavour to advance from the beginning as much as possible, and equally try to mix the right tint, and slowly and carefully to put it on the right spot, and _always_ with the model before me; what does not exactly suit has to be adapted; one can derive benefit from every head. Schwind says that he cannot work from models, they _worry_ him! a splendid teacher for his pupils! nature worries every one at first, but one must so discipline oneself that, instead of checking and hindering, she shall illuminate and help, and solve all doubts. Has Schwind, with his splendid and varied gifts, ever been able to model a head with a brush? Those who place the brush behind the pencil, under the pretence that _form_ is before all things, make a very great mistake. Form _is certainly ALL important_; one cannot study it enough; _but_ the greater part of _form_ falls within the province of the tabooed _brush_. The everlasting hobby of _contour_ (which belongs to the drawing material) is first the _place_ where the _form_ comes in; what, however, reveals true knowledge of form, is a powerful, organic, refined finish of modelling, full of feeling and knowledge--and that is the affair of the brush (_Pinsel_).

You see I have again begun discoursing, my dear Master; you must excuse all this silly talk, and ascribe it to the pleasure I feel whenever I enjoy intercourse with you, even if only by letter. How much we have already talked over together!

And now adieu, dear Friend. Rest a.s.sured that you have not wasted your affection on an ungrateful man, and keep always in remembrance--Your faithful pupil,

LEIGHTON.

Please remember me most kindly to your wife.

I do not know of any work of mine that has appeared in an ill.u.s.trated paper--Louie has been dreaming.

Three interesting letters to Steinle belong to the following year. In the second Leighton states that he is about to start for Algiers.

After his arrival there he writes to his mother describing the place.

Notwithstanding the difficulty he found in drawing the natives of Algiers, owing to their shyness and to their prejudices, Leighton succeeded while there in making drawings which rank among his very best; in fact, in certain qualities no others he ever drew can be said to equal them. To quote Mr. Pepys c.o.c.kerell (_Nineteenth Century_, November 1896):--

"I do not believe that more perfect drawings, better defined or more entirely realised, than these studies of heads of Moors, camels, &c., were ever executed by the hand of man."

Unfortunately the paper Leighton used was of the kind which becomes injured by time. The brown stains which now disfigure the sheets and the faint tone of the pencilling make it impossible to reproduce these drawings with any worthy result, but some of the original sketches can be seen in the Leighton House Collection.

_Translation._]

ROME, 11 VIA DELLA PURIFICAZIONE, _March 3, 1857_.

MY VERY DEAR MASTER,--Heartiest thanks for your kind lines of the 3rd of last month.

I hear with the greatest interest that your cartoon is now finished, and that you expect to get to the wall next year.