'Weaving the Wreath'

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Painting details

Title: 'Weaving the Wreath'
Date: c.1872
Media: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 62.2 x 58.4 cm
Location: Sudley House
Picture credit: Courtesy of Leighton House Museum, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (illustrated from a photogravure)

Description

Full-length seated male figure, turned slightly to the right. The figure wears classical dress. The head is tilted down towards the ground, with a wreath of leaves around it. The legs are crossed beneath the body. The right arm rests on the right leg, and the right hand holds leaves that have been sewn together. Between the leaves of the right hand and the left hand a piece of thick string stretches between the figure's fingers. The left arm is balanced mid air, with thick string wound around the fingers, which finish at the foot of the figure in a ball. A group of leaves sit in the lap of the figure. To the right of the canvas, next to the ball, some leaves can be seen. The figure sits on an oriental rug on a marble step. In the background there is a marble relief depicting classical themes.

Provenance

Purchased by George Holt; bequeathed to Liverpool by Emma Holt in 1944.

Bibliography

• Ormond, LeonTe and Richard, 'Lord Leighton', Yale University Press, London, 1975, p.161, catalogue number 205, plate 120

Exhibition history

• 1872, Liverpool Autumn Exhibition, catalogue number 256
• 1873, Royal Academy of Arts, catalogue number 261
• 1894, Guildhall, catalogue number 31
• 04 January 1897 to 13 March 1897, 'Exhibition of Works be the Late Lord Leighton of Stretton President of the Royal Academy: Winter Exhibition', The Royal Academy of Arts, London, catalogue number 6
• 1897, Birmingham
• 1901, Leighton House