'Jonathan's Token to David'

Painting details

Title: 'Jonathan's Token to David'
Date: c.1868
Media: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 171.5 x 124.5 cm
Location: The Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Description

Two full-length standing male figures. The first is facing the viewer with the head in profile facing left. The figure's right arm holds a bow. The left arm is culed upwards to the shoulder. The figure is in classical dress, with a breastplate. The figure also wears red sandals, a red band tied round his head, and red drapery around the shoulders that falls to the floor. To the right a young male figure stands. The figure is turned to the left, with the head tilted downwards. The right hand holds the strap of a pouch that sits diagonally across the body. The left holds the top of the pouch. The right foot is flat on the ground and the left is raised slightly. The figure wears leopard print material around the waist. Tall trees surround the figures. In the background, fields and mountains can be seen.

Provenance

Collection of John Wardell; sold through Christie's, London 19 March 1881 (lot 278); sold through Christie's, London 28 May 1881 (lot 90); purchased by Hartnoll and Erye; purchased by the Minneapolis Institue of Arts in 1974.

Bibliography

• 'The Times', May 2 1868, p.11
• 'Art Journal', 1868, p.105
• 'Antheneum', no.2114, May 2 1868, p.631, 'Illustrated London News', no.52, May 9 1868, p.462
• Swinburne, Algernon, 'Essays and Studies', 1875, p.361-62
• Rhy, Ernest, 'Fredric Leighton', 1895, p.15, 68
• Crokran, Alice, 'Fredric Leighton', 1904, p.62, 185, 200
• Barrington, Mrs. Russell, 'The Life , Letters, and Work of Fredric Leighton', 1906, II, p.384
• Jones, Stephen et al., 'Frederic Leighton', Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1996, catal

Exhibition history

• 1868, Royal Academy of Arts, London, catalogue number 227
• 1974, Hartnoll and Eyre, London
• 19 November 1978 to 07 January 1979, 'Victorian High Renaissance', Manchester City Art Gallery (now Manchester Art Gallery), The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, The Brooklyn Museum, New York, catalogue number 49