Study for 'Elijah in the Wilderness': Angel

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Drawing details

Title: Study for 'Elijah in the Wilderness': Angel
Date: c.1877
Media: Black and white chalk on brown paper
Dimensions: 23.5 x 26.5 cm
Location: Leighton House Museum
Picture credit: Leighton House Museum, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Reference number: LHO/D/0591
Inscriptions: Stamped lower left "LLC" encircled, in black ink. Inscribed lower right "Elijah" in pencil. Inscribed on reverse, lower centre "9/90/-" in pencil. Inscribed on reverse, centre "F.1" encircled, in pencil.

Interpretation

This drawing is unusual as the same character is drawn from a female, and then a male figure. It was not common for male and female figures to pose at the same time, so this study may have been made over two separate sessions. In the finished work, the figure is quite androgynous, with hair and arms like that of the male figure but a rather feminine face. This may be an example of Leighton purposefully creating an androgynous figure, as he did in his depiction of the central figure in the painting 'Lieder Ohne Worte' (c.1860, Tate).

Description

Left of sheet: full-length, nude study for the angel in the painting 'Elijah in the Wilderness' (c.1878, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool). The study has been made from a female model. The pose is similar to the finished work, although the figure faces the viewer and is turned to the right. Part of the vase held in the right hand is indicated. Right of sheet: full-length, nude study for the same figure, drawn from a male figure. The pose is the same as that in the finished work. The vase, held in the right hand, is also indicated. 

Provenance

Bequeathed by the artist to his sisters, Mrs. Augusta Matthews (n+e Augusta Neunburg Leighton, 1835-1919) and Mrs. Alexandra Orr (n+e Alexandra Leighton, 1828-1903); purchased by the Fine Art Society in 1896; collection of Leighton House Museum 

Bibliography

• Gere, Charlotte, et al., 'A Victorian Master: Drawings by Frederic, Lord Leighton', Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, 2006, p.75 catalogue number 4.7 (illustrated)
• Ormond, Leon+e and Richard, 'Lord Leighton', Yale University Press, London, 1975, p.164 (listed under catalogue number 251) 

Exhibition history

• 08 November 2006 to 25 February 2007, 'A Victorian Master: Drawings by Frederic, Lord Leighton', Leighton House Museum, London, catalogue number 4.7