Lot Essay
As the Ormonds observe (op.cit., p.55), 'Leighton's art in the early 1860s was in a transitional state, and it belonged to no recognisable school or movement. Critics of his work perceived the continental bias of his style, but found it difficult to define. Cimabue's Madonna, against which Leighton's later work was invariably judged, had been a recognisable history picture, while his later, more aesthetic experiments were generally misunderstood. In 1861, the Art Journal talked of his descent from 'the highest walks of Art' to 'the lower forms of mere decorative ornamentation.'
One of the constants in this period of flux was an interest in religious subjects, inspired, according to the Ormonds, not by personal faith, since Leighton 'like his father was to all intents and purposes an agnostic,' but by 'the tremendous vogue for biblical history.' Leighton's artistic background was also important. 'Nurtured on Nazarene ideology, (he) was well equipped to turn himself into a bible illustrator.' Besides, like so many artists before him, agnostic or otherwise, he clearly responded to the romance and picturesqueness of many biblical themes.
He had begun to treat such themes in 1858 when he painted a Samson and Delilah (untraced; Ormond, no.40) and Gehazi dismissed by the Prophet Elisha (untraced; Ormond, no.43). The present picture was painted in 1862, and was followed the next year by Salome Dancing (private collection, Japan; Ormond, pl.77) and the theatrical Jezebel and Arab (Scarborough; Ormond, pl.74), for which Fanny Kemble is said to have modelled. The climax of the development is represented by the fresco of The Wise and Foolish Virgins which he painted for William White's new church at Lyndhurst in the New Forest 1862-4 (Ormond, pl.76) and the magnificent set of nine illustrations carried out for the Dalziels' Bible 1863-4, one of the outstanding achievements of the revival of book illustration in the sixties.
The Star of Bethlehem, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1862, was described by Leighton himself in a letter to his master Edward von Steinle as 'somewhat fanciful... I have imagined one of the three holy kings, when he sees the Star in the East from the battlements of his palace. The picture is curious and open to much fault-finding, but I think it will please you by a certain poetry in the conception. The shape is long and narrow. The king, half life-size, almost turns his back upon the spectator, and is, in the midst of the dark night, only lit by the mystic rays of the Star. In contrast to this pure light one sees, quite at the bottom, through an arch, into the hot lamp-light, which illuminates a gay orgy. I have allowed myself a certain amount of pictorial licence, which may well surprise the general specator at first glance, but which to me heightens the poetical impression of the whole.' He continued to stress the imaginative aspect of the picture when writing to its first owner. 'It is meant to be suggestive, and is, I hope, poetic, but it is in no sense an allegory.'
Leighton's emphasis on the 'poetic' nature of his interpretation, together with the dramatic contrast he draws between the King, preoccupied with heavenly thoughts, and the heedless merry makers, strongly suggest that he was influenced here by the Pre-Raphaelites, particularly Rossetti and Burne-Jones. He was in close touch with Pre-Raphaelite circles at this date, and the decoration of Lyndhurst Church included not only his mural but a fine set of stained-glass windows designed by Burne-Jones and made by the Morris firm. Indeed Leighton claimed to have secured Burne-Jones the commission.
The Star of Bethlehem was well received. Leighton's friend Mary Sartoris declared it was her 'favourite picture', and was thrilled when he gave her a study for the figure of the King. Another friend, the architect Frederic Pepys Cockerell, was also enthusiastic, and F.G. Stephens, the recently appointed art-critic of the Athenaeum, was 'much pleased', according to Leighton. This is confirmed by Stephens's review of the Academy, in which he praises the 'truly original' treatment of a 'most impressive subject', noting especially the 'grave and noble' expression of the King, the way his robes 'sweep to his feet in grand masses', the 'peculiar light' in the sky, and the rendering of the 'banquet scene ... These figures are admirably designed, full of appropriate spirit and degraded grace.' The Art Journal also liked the picture. Although it had reservations about 'the revel', it thought the 'idea fresh and original', the 'figure of the Magus ... grand' and the 'conception' in general 'felicitous'. However, it was one thing to have the picture admired and another to find a buyer. 'Nobody has as yet asked the price of the Eastern King', Leighton reported to his father, and it has been said that, according to Redford, the picture was auctioned at Christie's in 1862. This may well be true but we can find our reference to the sale, which in any case would have taken place after the picture had been exhibited at Liverpool that autumn.
Studies for the picture are at Leighton House (429, 464) and in the Library at the Royal Academy.
One of the constants in this period of flux was an interest in religious subjects, inspired, according to the Ormonds, not by personal faith, since Leighton 'like his father was to all intents and purposes an agnostic,' but by 'the tremendous vogue for biblical history.' Leighton's artistic background was also important. 'Nurtured on Nazarene ideology, (he) was well equipped to turn himself into a bible illustrator.' Besides, like so many artists before him, agnostic or otherwise, he clearly responded to the romance and picturesqueness of many biblical themes.
He had begun to treat such themes in 1858 when he painted a Samson and Delilah (untraced; Ormond, no.40) and Gehazi dismissed by the Prophet Elisha (untraced; Ormond, no.43). The present picture was painted in 1862, and was followed the next year by Salome Dancing (private collection, Japan; Ormond, pl.77) and the theatrical Jezebel and Arab (Scarborough; Ormond, pl.74), for which Fanny Kemble is said to have modelled. The climax of the development is represented by the fresco of The Wise and Foolish Virgins which he painted for William White's new church at Lyndhurst in the New Forest 1862-4 (Ormond, pl.76) and the magnificent set of nine illustrations carried out for the Dalziels' Bible 1863-4, one of the outstanding achievements of the revival of book illustration in the sixties.
The Star of Bethlehem, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1862, was described by Leighton himself in a letter to his master Edward von Steinle as 'somewhat fanciful... I have imagined one of the three holy kings, when he sees the Star in the East from the battlements of his palace. The picture is curious and open to much fault-finding, but I think it will please you by a certain poetry in the conception. The shape is long and narrow. The king, half life-size, almost turns his back upon the spectator, and is, in the midst of the dark night, only lit by the mystic rays of the Star. In contrast to this pure light one sees, quite at the bottom, through an arch, into the hot lamp-light, which illuminates a gay orgy. I have allowed myself a certain amount of pictorial licence, which may well surprise the general specator at first glance, but which to me heightens the poetical impression of the whole.' He continued to stress the imaginative aspect of the picture when writing to its first owner. 'It is meant to be suggestive, and is, I hope, poetic, but it is in no sense an allegory.'
Leighton's emphasis on the 'poetic' nature of his interpretation, together with the dramatic contrast he draws between the King, preoccupied with heavenly thoughts, and the heedless merry makers, strongly suggest that he was influenced here by the Pre-Raphaelites, particularly Rossetti and Burne-Jones. He was in close touch with Pre-Raphaelite circles at this date, and the decoration of Lyndhurst Church included not only his mural but a fine set of stained-glass windows designed by Burne-Jones and made by the Morris firm. Indeed Leighton claimed to have secured Burne-Jones the commission.
The Star of Bethlehem was well received. Leighton's friend Mary Sartoris declared it was her 'favourite picture', and was thrilled when he gave her a study for the figure of the King. Another friend, the architect Frederic Pepys Cockerell, was also enthusiastic, and F.G. Stephens, the recently appointed art-critic of the Athenaeum, was 'much pleased', according to Leighton. This is confirmed by Stephens's review of the Academy, in which he praises the 'truly original' treatment of a 'most impressive subject', noting especially the 'grave and noble' expression of the King, the way his robes 'sweep to his feet in grand masses', the 'peculiar light' in the sky, and the rendering of the 'banquet scene ... These figures are admirably designed, full of appropriate spirit and degraded grace.' The Art Journal also liked the picture. Although it had reservations about 'the revel', it thought the 'idea fresh and original', the 'figure of the Magus ... grand' and the 'conception' in general 'felicitous'. However, it was one thing to have the picture admired and another to find a buyer. 'Nobody has as yet asked the price of the Eastern King', Leighton reported to his father, and it has been said that, according to Redford, the picture was auctioned at Christie's in 1862. This may well be true but we can find our reference to the sale, which in any case would have taken place after the picture had been exhibited at Liverpool that autumn.
Studies for the picture are at Leighton House (429, 464) and in the Library at the Royal Academy.