The Daphnephoria is an oil painting by Frederic Leighton, first exhibited in 1876.

The Daphnephoria
Artist	Frederic Leighton
Year	1876 (1876)
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	226 cm × 518 cm (89 in × 204 in)
Location	Lady Lever Art Gallery
Accession	LL 3632

Background

The Daphenphoria was a triumphal procession held every ninth year at Thebes in honour of Apollo, to whom the laurel was sacred, and to commemorate also a victory of the Thebans over the Aeolians of Arne.[1][2]

History

In the Academy exhibition of 1876, with The Daphnephoria, Leighton once more chose a classic theme, for a painting which, by its composition, reminded the critics and lovers of art of the artist's early success with the Cimabue's Madonna, and of his other large processional picture, the Syracusan Bride.[3] The work was painted for Stewart Hodgson. He paid £1,500 for it, and Leighton gave him all the studies he made for it.[4] It was later acquired by Lord Leverhulme, and was transferred from his private collection to the Lady Lever Art Gallery in 1922.

Description

The Daphephoria is a composition of thirty-six figures.[1]

Reception

Much was said for and also against the artist and his art. Some pointed the finger at "the merely decorative value of Leighton's work". Some said, "Yes, you see his colours are thinner and poorer than in the 'Cimabue Madonna'. Ah! they cannot last"; and some, "Oh that some one would pinch the figures and make them sneeze and jump!" and so forth.[5]

The Art Journal, however, expressed a more favourable appreciation:—"Such delicacy and precision of drawing, and such sincerity of modelling, and such poetic finish are rare." Comyns Carr, too, wrote:—"No painter of our time maintains a firmer or more consistent adherence to those severe principles of design which have received the sanction of great examples in the past. Frederick Leighton has never lowered the standard of his work in deference to popular demand, and for this persistent devotion to his own best ideals he deserves well of all who share his faith in the power of beauty."[6]

Later Victorian assessments were generally favourable. Sir W. B. Richmond wrote:—"In the highest sense 'The Daphnephoria' is a beautiful picture; there is not only the poetry of the whole scene in its dignity as a religious festival, with the enthusiasm of devotion, but in every detail the exquisite harmonies of line and colour are enchanting. The scent of laurel leaves seems to impregnate the air, already laden with the aromatic perfumes of the pines."[7] Edgcumbe Staley considered this to be Leighton's "great masterpiece", stating, "The composition of the picture is quite remarkable for its simplicity in depicting a scene of fervid activity. There is no confusion: every figure is distinct and yet united in a completely satisfactory whole.[8]

Gallery

• 
  The standard-bearer (right) and the Daphnephoros (left)
• 
  Three youths bearing armour (right) and the Choragos (left)
• 
  Three rows of maidens (detail)
• 
  Five boys with tripods (background) and two girls drawing water from a well (foreground)

References

Sources

• Ash, Russell (1995). Lord Leighton. London: Pavilion Books Limited. pp. 13, 25, 37, 49, plate 17.
• Barrington, Russell (1906). The Life, Letters and Work of Frederic Baron Leighton of Stretton. Vol. 2. London: George Allen, Ruskin House. pp. 29–30, 195–197, 199.
• Jones, Stephen, et al. (1996). Frederic Leighton, 1830–1896. Royal Academy of Arts, London: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. pp. 36–37, 52, 66–67, 82, 84, 88, 95, 107, 146, 176, 177, 180, 182, 194–195, 201, 202, 204, 216, 240. fig. 19, 35, cat. 71.
• Hammerschlag, Keren Rosa (2015). Frederic Leighton: Death, Mortality, Resurrection. United Kingdom: Ashgate. pp. 27–29.
• Rhys, Ernest (1900). Frederic Lord Leighton: An Illustrated Record of his Life and Work. London: George Bell & Sons. pp. 24, 33–35, 47, 68, 111, 126.

Attribution:

• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Staley, Edgcumbe (1906). Lord Leighton of Stretton. London: The Walter Scott Publishing Co., Ltd.; New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 71, 98–106, 121, 230, 254.