'An Athlete Struggling with a Python'

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Painting details

Title: 'An Athlete Struggling with a Python'
Date: c.1874-77
Dimensions: 1753 x cm
Location: Tate Britain, London
Picture credit: Courtesy of Leighton House Museum, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (illustrated from a photogravure)

Description

Full-length nude, standing male figure, wrestling with a python. The figure stands with his knees bent and his feet hip distance apart. The right arm is fully extended in front of his face and the right hand holds the neck of the snake. The left arm is twisted behind the figure's back and the left hand holds the body of the snake. The main body of the snake is twisted around the left thigh and tail crosses the figure to encircle his right ankle.

Provenance

Purchased by the Chantrey Bequest of the Tate Gallery (Tate Britain)

Bibliography

• Jones, Stephen et al., 'Frederic Leighton', Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1996, p.17,39,84 figure 66 catalogue number 75-78. Ormond, LeonTe and Richard, 'Lord Leighton', Yale University Press, London, 1975, p.162, catalogue number 229

Exhibition history

• 1877, Royal Academy of Arts, London, with title 'athlete strangling a python', catalogue number 1466
• 1968, Royal Academy Winter Exhibition, London, catalogue number 306