Lord Frederick Leighton
English
1830-1896
“There is no mistake now about what people in this country like…; whether I shall conform to that taste is another question.” wrote Leighton in a letter to his father.
Many artists in Victorian England avoided religious subject matter, as it did little to help their commercial success or endear them to the public; Frederick Leighton, however, considered it an important part of his artistic career, painting perhaps a dozen or so in his lifetime.
Leighton was following an English Protestant form of painting religious subjects, preferring to depict an imaginary scene rather than one specifically written about in the Bible. “The Star of Bethleham” (pictured) is a good example of Leighton’s form of storytelling, and reflects this approach to his subject.
The picture depicts a magi standing on his house looking East, having left a party which is still going on in the house below. Although the scene was never in the Bible, we know who the magi is and what his ultimate role is in the Gospels. In this way, the artist invites the viewer to take part in the story, and interact with the characters.
He carefully arranges all the elements for optimal visual impact, colors the mood with lighting- the sky, creates dramatic value contrast to heighten the emotion, and uses obvious but meaningful supporting symbolism. Leighton was a deliberate and meticulous craftsmen, and rarely made technical mistakes.
Although he usually focused on fashionable motifs, this is the type of picture that I really admire in Leighton.
In his lifetime, Leighton was elected to the highest office an artist could attain in England: the President of the Royal Academy, which is accompanied with the honor of being Knighted. Leighton was regarded as the foremost painter in England for much of his career, although when this painting was displayed at the Royal Academy exhibition it was poorly hung and did not sell.