Studies for 'Elijah in the Wilderness': Elijah

• enlarge drawing

Drawing details

Title: Studies for 'Elijah in the Wilderness': Elijah
Date: c.1877
Media: Black and white chalk on blue paper
Dimensions: 22.8 x 29.4 cm
Location: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Picture credit: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Reference number: WA1988.332
Inscriptions: Inscribed, lower left "Studies" in pencil. Stamped, lower left "LLC" encircled, in black ink. Inscribed on reverse, centre "L61" in pencil. Inscribed on mount, lower centre "Leighton" in pencil. Inscribed on mount, upper left "21" in pencil.

Interpretation

These studies are early ideas for the pose of the figure of Elijah in the painting and are very different from the pose Leighton eventually settled on.

Description

Left of sheet: full-length study for the figure of Elijah in the painting 'Elijah in the Wilderness' (c.1878, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool). Unlike the painting, Elijah is shown facing the viewer and leaning on a surface to the right. Centre of sheet: full-length study for the same figure. Unlike the painting, Elijah is shown facing the viewer and standing with the head bowed, a stick in the left hand and the right hand held away from the body. Right of sheet: full-length study for the same figure. Unlike the painting, Elijah is shown facing the viewer and standing with the head bowed and the hands on the upper thighs. The paper is very faded. 

Provenance

Bequeathed to the Ashmolean Museum by Mrs Helen Forbes Fearn in 1988