The Daphnephoria is an oil painting by Frederic Leighton, first exhibited in 1876.
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.Staley 1906, p. 98.Barrington 1906, p. 196.
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.Rhys 1900, p. 34. The work was painted for Stewart Hodgson. He paid £1,500 for it, and Leighton gave him all the studies he made for it.Staley 1906, p. 106. It was later acquired by Lord Leverhulme, and was transferred from his private collection to the Lady Lever Art Gallery in 1922.
Description The Daphnephoria is a composition of thirty-six figures.
Reception Much was said for and also against the artist and his art.Staley 1906, p. 105. The Art Journal, however, was favourable.Staley 1906, pp. 105–106. Later Victorian assessments were generally positive, and Sir W. B. Richmond was even enthusiastic.Staley 1906, p. 103. Edgcumbe Staley considered this to be Leighton's "great masterpiece".Staley 1906, pp. 103–105
Gallery
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.
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