Study for 'Cymon and Iphigenia': Sleeping Female Figures

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Drawing details

Title: Study for 'Cymon and Iphigenia': Sleeping Female Figures
Date: c.1884
Media: Black and white chalk on brown paper
Dimensions: 22.0 x 29.0 cm
Location: Snite Museum of Art, Indiana
Picture credit: Snite Museum of Art
Reference number: 1978.40
Inscriptions: Inscribed on verso "D48" in black chalk, encircled.

Interpretation

There are many drawings for the two recumbent figures in the painting 'Cymon and Iphigenia' (c.1884, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney), and it seems that Leighton struggled to decide on the final pose. Here, all three studies show very different poses to that used in the painting. He has also used adult female figures as models, whereas in the painting one of the figures is a child.

Description

Centre of sheet: full-length study for the pair of sleeping female figures, to the right of the foreground, in the painting 'Cymon and Iphigenia' (c.1884, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney). The pose differs greatly from that of the painting. One female figure lies on her left side, with the upper body resting on a pillow. The figure is seen in sharp perspective, with the head nearest the viewer and to the right of the sheet, and the feet to the left. A second female figure lies behind the first, with the right arm wresting across her body, and the left arm resting across the pillow. Lower left of sheet: small, faint study for the same two figures, again seen in perspective. One figure lies on her back, with knees bent up, and hands resting by the face. The second figure lies on her left side, with upper body resting on the lower body of the other, the right arm draped across her waist, and the right hand resting on the ground. The pose of this right arm is similar to that of the corresponding figure in the final painting. Lower right of sheet: study for the same pose, viewed from a different angle. The figure lying on her back is now viewed in profile, and rests the left arm across her face. 

Provenance

Sold by Julian Hartnoll, London; purchased by the Snite Museum of Art, Indianapolis, from 'English 19th Century Paintings, Watercolours, and Drawings' at the Shepherd Gallery, New York, in 1978 

Bibliography

• English 19th Century Paintings, Watercolours, and Drawings' Shepherd Gallery, New York, 1978, p.38, catalogue number 40
• 'Selected Works from the Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN', Snite Museum of Art, 1987, p.198 

Exhibition history

• 1978, 'English 19th Century Paintings, Watercolours, and Drawings' Shepherd Gallery, New York,catalogue number 40