Study for 'Cimabue's Celebrated Madonna...': Boy

Drawing details

Title: Study for 'Cimabue's Celebrated Madonna...': Boy
Date: c.1854
Media: Pencil on paper
Dimensions: 40.1 x 18.3 cm
Location: Royal Academy of Arts, London
Picture credit: Royal Academy of Arts, London
Reference number: 04/662
Inscriptions: Inscribed lower left "1" encircled, in pencil.

Interpretation

Leighton almost always followed traditional studio practice in making detailed studies of nude and draped figures before embarking on the painting itself.

Description

A nude study for the male child wearing a red tunic on the right hand side of the painting 'Cimabue's Celebrated Madonna...' (c.1853-55, Royal Collection). In the finished work, the child wears a laurel wreath on his head and holds the end of the garland which is draped over Cimabue's painting. Here, the child's right arm is not drawn and his legs are slightly closer together. 

Provenance

Bequeathed by the artist to his sisters, Mrs. Augusta Matthews (nTe Augusta Neunburg Leighton, 1835-1919) and Mrs. Alexandra Orr (nTe Alexandra Leighton, 1828-1903); presented to the Royal Academy of Arts, London by Matthews and Orr in 1896