Orpheus and Eurydice

Orpheus and Eurydice marked the beginning of Leighton’s mature classical phase. A reworking of the same subject painted eight years earlier in The Triumph of Music, this work shows Orpheus about to break the rule forbidding him to look at his wife Eurydice as he attempts to rescue her from Hades. In Leighton’s rendering, Eurydice passionately forces herself upon Orpheus who is desperate to avoid looking at her face. When exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1864, the work was received well by the critics and helped to establish Leighton’s reputation, leading in part to his election as an associate of the Royal Academy the following year.