Object Image

Colour sketch for Cimabue's Celebrated Madonna is Carried in Procession

In 1855 Leighton exhibited his debut work at the Royal Academy in London, Cimabue’s Celebrated Madonna is Carried in Procession through the streets of Florence. The work caused a sensation and was immediately purchased by Queen Victoria for £600. This painting is a small colour study for this larger work. Leighton produced colour studies for all of his major paintings as part of a complex and laborious process of preparation he undertook before embarking on the final piece. This study is particularly well finished, showing the careful pains Leighton went to with this picture, which was to introduce him to the British art world....
1855
Oil on canvas
28.0 x 63.0cm
2012-0002
Acquired in 2012 with the generous support of the Art Fund and the Friends of Leighton House and 18 Stafford Terrace. Image and text © The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, 2020

Where you'll find this

Leighton House
Permanent collection