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Lot Essay
One of Leighton's most abstract works, evoking mood rather than telling a story, Idyll (private collection) was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1881. For illustrations, see L. and R. Ormond, Lord Leighton, New Haven and London, 1975, pl. 189, and Frederic Leighton, exh. Royal Academy, London, 1996, cat. p. 196.
In pose, the nymphs have been compared to the reclining figures on the eastern pediment of the Parthenon, housed in the British Museum since 1816. Although the present drawing would have been made from professional models, in the painting the nymph on the right has the features of Lillie Langtry, whose profile was admired by contemporaries as conforming to the Pheidian ideal. The study from her is at Leighton House. Langtry's fortunes were currently at a low ebb as she had recently been deposed as the mistress of the Prince of Wales and Prince Louis of Battenburg. However, she was present at the private view of the Royal Academy in 1881, and her appearance in the President's most important picture that year was probably connected with her ambition to launch herself on a second career as an actress.
In pose, the nymphs have been compared to the reclining figures on the eastern pediment of the Parthenon, housed in the British Museum since 1816. Although the present drawing would have been made from professional models, in the painting the nymph on the right has the features of Lillie Langtry, whose profile was admired by contemporaries as conforming to the Pheidian ideal. The study from her is at Leighton House. Langtry's fortunes were currently at a low ebb as she had recently been deposed as the mistress of the Prince of Wales and Prince Louis of Battenburg. However, she was present at the private view of the Royal Academy in 1881, and her appearance in the President's most important picture that year was probably connected with her ambition to launch herself on a second career as an actress.