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.