Lord Frederick Leighton

Frederic Leighton painted the classical world with grace and splendour. His figures are drawn with sculptural precision, draped in flowing, brightly coloured fabric, and his scenes glow with warm Mediterranean light. Flaming June, a sleeping woman in orange, is his best known work.

He was born in Scarborough and trained across Europe, in Frankfurt under Eduard von Steinle, in Florence and in Paris. His first big success, Cimabue’s Celebrated Madonna, was bought by Queen Victoria in 1855 and is now in the National Gallery. He was president of the Royal Academy from 1878 until his death and was made a baron the day before he died, the first painter to receive a peerage. His house in Holland Park is now the Leighton House museum.

A Girl Feeding Peacocks and Actaea, the Nymph of the Shore show his colour. Look at the folds of the drapery.