Chapter IV: Royal Academician--Music--Arab Hall (2)

Perhaps the most important work inside the Academy which Leighton effected during this time was that of establishing the winter exhibitions of Old Masters at Burlington House. No one exemplified practically better than did Leighton the value of the motto, "What is worth having is worth sharing." He had been fed from early youth from the fountain-heads of Art, and one of his first objects after being elected a member of the Royal Academy was to endeavour to secure the same inspiring stimulus for students which he had himself imbibed from the work of the greatest men. He told me also that his chief object in making conscientious studies in colour when he travelled, was to endeavour to convey to students who were not able to go abroad some idea of the varieties in the aspects of nature found in different countries. Leighton was much appreciated in London society, but the _intimes_ of the old Roman days remained still the nucleus of his friendships; also every year he tried to find himself in his beloved Italy, and he generally succeeded. From his old friend Lady William Russell, mother of Odo Russell (afterwards Lord Ampthill and Leighton's ally in Rome), and Arthur Russell--the notable lady whose charm attracted to her _salon_ all that was most interesting among the magnates of Europe--two notes record her affection for Leighton and the death of Henry Greville in 1872, the severest blow which Leighton had sustained since the death of his mother.

I was in hopes of seeing you, to thank you _viva voce_ for the
_ambrosia_ you sent me from Italy. I did _not_ write during your
pictorial tour, not exactly knowing _where_ you might be. It
was, _and is_, for I have some still, _excellent_; Paolo
Veronese did not eat any better, nor Titian, nor any of your
_Brethren in Apollo_.

_Guido_ you _are_--the English Guido--but _not_ "da Polenta"; I
will _not_ accept that "terre a terre" denomination. I now thank
you most gratefully--it was one of the seven works of mercy, for
I really could not eat and was _starving_. The Indian cornflour
was a _renovation_. If ever you can make up your mind to pay a
visit to una povera vealisa--zoppa--sorda--brutta and seccante,
and forget "_Aurora_," I shall be charmed. But I know that your
time is better employed; so a million of thanks, and as many
regrets not to be able to see your _marvels_ of which I
hear.--Believe me, most sincerely your obliged Serva and Amica,

E.A.R.
2 AUDLEY SQUARE MAYFAIR, W.
_Sunday, 26th November 1871_.

DEAR GUIDO (but _not_ of Polenta),--I have been quite
_mortified_ at your neglect of me, and invoked the muses in
vain! and call'd on the ghosts of Titian and Raffael, but they
did not heed my sighs! I am always glad to see you, and wish I
could _see your works_! All my cotemporaries and comrades are
dying off, and I _cannot_ last long--so come to my "Evenings at
Home" when you dine in my "Quartier" and are going to your club.

Alas! for dear Henry Greville! I knew him from his most early
youth. _Both_ his parents were my _early_ friends from _my_
youth, and his elder brother my cotemporary.

Come! Benvenuto Cellini--venite!

_Monday, February 1873._

Leighton's passion for music led him to encourage all that was best in instrumental as well as in vocal performance. The Monday Popular Concerts were started by Messrs. Chappell in 1859, the first being given on the 3rd January. From their commencement Leighton was a subscriber, and very rarely missed being present.

It was in the 'seventies that Leighton instituted those yearly feasts of music, which were among the real treats of the year.[54] His dear friend Joachim was to the end the _piece de resistance_ of these gatherings. Never did the Great Master seem so inspired as when he played in that studio. Leighton wrote to his sister, Mrs. Matthews, April 1871:--

DEAREST GUSSY,--You heard, no doubt, that I gave a party the
other day, and that it went off well. To me perhaps the most
striking thing of the evening was Joachim's playing of Bach's
"Chacone" up in my gallery. I was at the other end of the room,
and the effect from the distance of the dark figure in the
uncertain light up there, and barely relieved from the gold
background and dark recess, struck me as one of the most poetic
and fascinating things that I remember. At the opposite end of
the room in the apse was a blazing crimson rhododendron tree,
which looked glorious where it reached up into the golden
semi-dome. Madame Viardot sang the "Divinites du Styx," from the
"Alcestis," quite magnificently, and then, later in the evening,
a composition of her own in which I delight--a Spanish-Arab
ditty, with a sort of intermittent mandoline scraping
accompaniment. It is the complaint of some forsaken woman, and
wanders and quavers in a doleful sort of way that calls up to me
in a startling manner visions and memories of Cadiz and Cordova,
and sunny distant lands that smell of jasmine. A little Miss
Brandes, a pupil of Madame Schumann, played too. She is full of
talent and promise, and has had an immense success. Mme. Joachim
sang "Mignon" (Beethoven) excellently.

Mrs. Watts Hughes writes the following notes relating to those years of the 'seventies:--

I remember the incident you refer to at Eton College. The
_Orfeo_ performance was given by the Eton boys, who had formed a
society among themselves with the view of making acquaintance
with the music of the great masters. I took the part of _Orfeo_,
and a niece of Darwin's, Miss Wedgwood, who is now Lady Farrer,
sang Euridice's part. I believe Lord Leighton sang in some of
the quartettes and choruses. I often met Lord Leighton at Mrs.
Sartoris' musical gatherings at her house in Park Place, St.
James', when he would sing very heartily the tenor parts of the
old madrigals, in which also Mrs. Douglas Freshfield, Miss
Ritchie, and others took part with Mrs. Sartoris, who on some
occasions would sing one of her great operatic _Arias_ which
brought her so much fame in her former years.

In 1877 Leighton began to build the famous Arab Hall.[55]

The following letters from Sir Richard Burton refer to the collecting and sending of one instalment of the precious tiles:--

DAMASCUS, _March 22, 1871_.

DEAR MR. LEIGHTON,--I have just returned from a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem, or yours of April 14th, 1871, would not have remained
so long unanswered. And now to business. I am quite as willing
to have a house pulled down for you now as when at Vichy,[56]
but the difficulty is to find a house with tiles. The
_bric-a-brac_ sellers have quite learned their value, and demand
extravagant sums for poor articles. Of course you want good old
specimens, and these are waxing very rare. My friends, Drake and
Palmer, were lucky enough, when at Jerusalem, to nobble a score
or so from the so-called Mosque of Omar. Large stores are
there found, but unhappily under charge of the Wakf, and I fancy
that long payments would be required. However, I shall send your
letter to my colleague, Moore, who will do what he can for you.
The fact is, it is a work of patience. My wife and I will keep a
sharp look-out for you, and buy up as many as we can find which
seem to answer your description. If native inscriptions--white
or blue, for instance--are to be had, I shall secure them, but
not if imperfect. Some clearing away of rubbish is expected at
Damascus; the Englishman who superintends is a friend of mine,
and I shall not neglect to get from him as much as possible.

We met Holman Hunt at Jerusalem; he was looking a little worn,
like a veritable denizen of the Holy City. I hope that you have
quite recovered health. Swinburne, the papers say, has been
sick; his "Songs before Sunrise" show even more genius than
"Poems and Ballads." What has become of Mrs. Sartoris? I saw her
son's appointment in the papers. Poor Vichy must be quite
ruined--veritably it was a Cockney hole. Syria is a poor Chili;
the Libanus is a mole-hill compared with the Andes--do you
remember? I am planning a realistic book which has no Holy Land
on the brain, and the public will curse her like our army in
Flanders. Pilgrims see everything through a peculiar medium, and
tourists shake hands (like madmen) when they sight the Plain of
Esdraelon or Sharon, as the case may be.

_N.B._--Both plains are like the poorer parts of our midland
counties. My wife joins in kind remembrances.--Ever yours
sincerely,

RICHARD F. BURTON.

TRIESTE, _July 13, 1876_.

MY DEAR LEIGHTON,--One word to say that the tiles are packed,
and will be sent by the first London steamer--opportunities are
rare here. Some are perfect, many are broken; but they will make
a bit of mosaic after a little trimming, and illustrate the
difference between Syriac and Sindi. They are taken from the
tomb (Moslem) of Sakhar, on the Indus. I can give you analysis
of glaze if you want it; but I fancy you don't care for
analyses. The yellow colour is by far the rarest and least
durable apparently. The blues are the favourites and the best.

Here we are living in a typhoon of lies. I am losing patience,
and shall probably bolt to Belgrade in search of truth. Austria
is behaving in her usual currish manner, allowing her policy to
be managed by a minority of light-headed, Paddy-whack Magyars
and pudding-headed, beer-brained Austro-Germans. How all Europe
funks the Slavs, and how well the latter are beginning to know
it.

Very grand of _la grande Bretagne_ to propose occupying Egypt
without any army to speak of. Sorry that you don't understand
the force of the expression, the "world generally," but will try
some time or other to make it clear. United best regards and
wishes. Why don't you take a holiday to Turkey?--Ever yours,

R.F. BURTON.

_P.S._--I hear that W. Wright has subsided into an Irish
conventicle, and that Green doesn't like prospect of returning
to Dan!

The construction of this thing of beauty, the Arab Hall, is a visible and permanent proof of the side in Leighton's artistic endowments which are so rarely found in northern, or indeed any modern nations, and the want of which are gradually leading our world into being very ugly--namely, the sense of the appropriate, of balance, of proportion, and of harmony in the construction and decoration of buildings. As an adherent of the pre-Raphaelites, William Morris had been battling with this tasteless condition of things for some years--strenuously working to counteract the unmeaning adaptations of foreign designs of all times and of all countries into English work, and the general muddledom into which the decoration in the surroundings of domestic life had fallen, by starting afresh on the lines of simple good designs of English pre-Puritan days. Leighton's taste had been inspired, in the first instance, by the crafts as well as by the art of Italy. Subsequently, the East had fascinated him. He admired greatly the frank, courageous beauty in the colouring of the decorations of her buildings; but, having an acute sense of the appropriate, he felt that they would not harmonise successfully with the necessary surroundings of English domestic life. He was therefore inspired to erect a special shrine for his collection of enamels. It has been truly said that the Arab Hall is as notable a creation in Art as any of Leighton's pictures or statues. The beauty of its effect is greatly enhanced by the arrangement of light and shade which leads on to the wonderfully beautiful casket of treasures. Monsieur Choisy, the distinguished French architect, wrote as follows in the _Times_ of April 27, 1896, when advocating the preservation of this house for the public: "Nowhere have I found in an architectural monument a happier gradation of effects, nor a more complete knowledge of the play of light. The entrance to the house is by a plain hall that leads to a '_patio_' lit from the sky, where enamels shine brilliantly in the full light; from this 'patio' one passes into a twilight corridor, where enamel and gold detach themselves from an architectural ground of richness somewhat severe; it is a transition which prepares the eye for a jewel of Oriental Art, where the most brilliant productions of the Persian potter are set in architectural frame inspired by Arab Art, but treated freely; the harmony is so perfect that one asks oneself if the architecture has been conceived for the enamels, or the enamels for the hall. This gradation, perhaps unique in contemporary architecture, was Leighton's idea; and the illustrious painter found in his old friend Mr. G. Aitchison, who built his house, a worthy interpreter of his fine conception. This hall, where colour is triumphant, was dear to Leighton, and even forms the background to some of his pictures. Towards the end of his life he still meant to embellish it by substituting marble for that small part that was only painted. The generous employment of his fortune alone prevented him from realising his intention.

"England has at all times given the example of honouring great men; she will, I am sure, find the means of preserving for Art a monument of which she has such reason to be proud."[57]

FOOTNOTES:

[42] In the Leighton House Collection is a splendid study for the wrestling figure of Heracles, also for the recumbent Alcestis, and the drapery for the phantom figure of Death. The figure of Heracles, fine as it is in the picture, lacks somewhat of the ardent quality in the action of the sketch. Owing to the public-spirited generosity of its owner, the late Right Hon. Sir Bernhard Samuelson, this picture has travelled all over the world for exhibition. It was also lent to Leighton House for more than a year in 1901.

[43] In the Leighton House Collection is a head in oils (presented by the late Alfred Waterhouse, R.A.) which Leighton painted actually by moonlight in Rome, as a study for one of the figures in "Summer Moon." See List of Illustrations.

[44] See study for picture in Leighton House Collection.

[45] Leighton had a cast made of this, and his copy is still in the collection in his house. Another copy he gave to Watts, who admired it beyond measure. Watts recounted to me that so preciously did he value it, that, not daring to expose it to the danger of housemaids' dusting, he carefully wrapped it up in handkerchiefs and put it in a drawer. One day, alas! forgetting it was there, in a hurry, he pulled the bundle of handkerchiefs out; it fell to the floor and was smashed.

[46] _The Athenaeum_ described the work when it appeared. "There is the grandeur of Greek tragedy in Mr. Leighton's 'Clytemnestra watching for the signal of her husband's return from Troy.' The time is deep in the fateful night, while the city sleeps; moonlight floods the walls, the roofs, the gates, and the towers with a ghastly glare, which seems presageful, and casts shadows as dark as they are mysterious and terrible. The dense blue of the sky is dim, sad, and ominous. But the most ominous and impressive element of the picture is a grim figure--the tall woman on the palace roof before us, who looks Titanic in her stateliness, and huge beyond humanity in the voluminous white drapery that wraps her limbs and bosom. Her hands are clenched and her arms thrust down straight and rigidly, each finger locked as in a struggle to strangle its fellow; the muscles swell on the bulky limbs. Drawn erect and with set features, which are so pale that the moonlight could not make them paler, the queen stares fixedly and yet eagerly into the distance, as if she had the will to look over the very edge of the world for the light to come."

[47] The Hon. Mrs. Grenfell.

[48] Purchased by the trustees of the Chantrey Bequest and placed in the Tate Gallery.

[49] Leighton gave this group to Watts, who expressed to me an unbounded admiration for it. "Nothing more beautiful has ever been done! Pheidias never did anything better. I believe it was better even than Pheidias!" were the words Watts used when deploring the fact that he had lent it to a sculptor to be cast--something had gone wrong in the process of casting, and it had been destroyed. When giving me the modelled sketch for the "Python," Watts said, "I am giving you the most beautiful thing I have in my place."

[50] The group of singing girls modelled as a study for "The Daphnephoria."

[51] See complete list in Appendix.

[52] The "Arts of War" lunette was commenced in 1870 and finished in 1880. The "Arts of Peace," begun in 1881, was completed in 1886. An account of these two frescoes appeared in the _Magazine of Art_ written by Mr. J. Ward, the master of the Macclesfield School of Art, who assisted Leighton in the work.

[53] In a letter from Mr. J.G. Hodgson, A.R.A., praises are bestowed on this picture and the "Moorish Garden" at the expense of "Clytemnestra" and the "Antique Juggling Girl." The letter is a good example of the criticisms which Leighton's serious work often received--that work in which, nevertheless, he was most true to himself. The ordinary English eye neither longed for nor appreciated Leighton's native Hellenic strain.

5 HILL ROAD,
_Friday, April 4, 1874_.

MY DEAR LEIGHTON,--I was immensely delighted with your two
pictures of the Jew's house and the Alhambra ("Moorish Garden: A
Dream of Granada"). I was at the opera last night, but thought
much less of Crispin and his Comara than of them; they are quite
charming, and excite me with the desire of emulation, at that
safe distance which is inherent in the nature of things. For
your "Clytemnestra" and the other ("Antique Juggling Girl"), I,
being a Philister, care nothing at all. From those to turn to
these, seems like leaving a garden fragrant with roses and
citron blossoms, where I hear the murmur of cooling streams,
Abanah and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, to enter a museum filled
with dusty plaster casts.

After all, the woes of the house of Atreus are now of very
little importance to mankind, or interest either. The most of
the latter they possess, is that they serve as themes for some
good Greek play, which had better have been burnt, as they have
hampered the genius of modern Europe and taught us nothing. Had
only Homer and the lyrics survived, we should have done better.
At all events, if a man must illustrate, why does he not
illustrate Shakespeare, a bigger man head and shoulders than any
of the Greek tragedists? But it appears to me you are made for a
much better and more intellectual purpose than illustrating
anybody. You have the eye to see and power to represent what you
see. You have special gifts and faculties highly trained. The
aspect of nature, as it appears to such a mind, would be of the
highest intellectual value to us, and would lead to progress. I
don't think modern art differs from that of any other day. It
has always been the effort to represent what is seen every day,
bringing to bear upon the representation the greatest possible
amount of culture, _i.e._ of reflection and selection. The women
and that dear little girl in the courtyard of your Jew's house
will outlive all the "Clytemnestras," &c.; they live with blood
in their veins, the others are but galvanised corpses. There I
have had it out; you must not complain, because you have had to
apologise for slashing into me, and now it is my turn. In the
prologue to Goethe's "Faust," if you remember, the poet, a
stubborn fellow, has his notions of the high aim of his art. He
will do nothing but what is extremely sublime, &c. The clown
quite agrees that such things may possibly do for the future,
but who, says he, is to amuse the present? I am that sort of
clown, I suppose. Don't be riled, and believe me,--Very much
your admiring friend,

J.G. HODGSON.

[54] Mr. William Spottiswoode wrote of one of these:--

"DEAR LEIGHTON,--Best of thanks from Mrs. Spottiswoode and
myself for another of the happiest day-dreams of the year, viz.
your afternoons at home."

[55] Mr. Aitchison, R.A., wrote: "During his visits to Rhodes, to Cairo, and Damascus, he made a large collection of lovely Saracenic tiles, and had besides bought two inscriptions, one of the most delicate colour and beautiful design, and the other sixteen feet long and strikingly magnificent, besides getting some panels, stained glass, and lattice-work from Damascus afterwards; these were fitted into an Arab Hall, something like La Zira at Palermo, in 1877."

The Arab Hall was begun November 1877, virtually completed by the end of 1879, but some small matters not till 1881. Materials--Bastard statuary, _i.e._ the marble columns in the angle recesses. These caps are of alabaster, designed by George Aitchison, R.A., and modelled by Sir E. Boehm. The large columns are of Caserta marble, caps of stone, birds modelled by Caldecott; column niches lined with Devonshire spar; dado, Irish black; string, Irish green, and bases of small columns. Those of the large columns are of Genoa green and Belgian blue; the marble lining behind big columns is of Pyrennean green, and the panel overhead; the lintel of Irish red. The marble work was done by White & Son, Vauxhall Bridge Road. Mosaic floor, designed by George Aitchison, R.A.; executed by Messrs. Burke & Co., who replaced fountain of white marble with the single slab of Belgian black. Chandelier, designed by G.A. Aitchison, R.A., executed by Forrest & Son, now extinct. The lattices to the lower part of the gallery designed by George Aitchison, R.A.

Sir Caspar P. Clarke wrote: "I was commissioned in 1876, by the authorities at South Kensington, to proceed to the East to buy artistic objects for the Museum. Before I started Leighton asked me, if I went to Damascus, to go to certain houses and try to effect the purchase of certain tiles. I had no difficulty in finding my market, for Leighton, with his customary precision, had accurately indicated every point about the dwellings concerned, and their treasures. I returned with a precious load, and in it some large family tiles, the two finest of which are built into the sides of the alcove of the Arab Hall. Leighton made no difficulty about the price, and insisted upon paying double what I had given. He never spoke of picking things up cheap, and scouted the idea of 'bargains in Art objects.'"

[56] Leighton, Sir Richard Burton, Algernon Swinburne, and Adelaide Sartoris passed some weeks together at Vichy in September 1869. Swinburne wrote in 1875: "We all owe so much to Leighton for the selection and intention of his subjects--always noble, always beautiful--and these are always worthy of a great and grave art."--"Essays and Studies," A.C. Swinburne.

[57] Letters from Lord and Lady Strangford to Leighton exist on matters concerning the East, on which both were great authorities.

"Will you accept," Lady Strangford wrote, "as a token of my admiration of your house, a piece of ancient Persian needlework? It is really old, and it is said that they no longer do anything of the kind in Persia, and that these pieces are valuable. I do not know if this is true or not, but _if_ you _like_ the thing, please use it among the many treasures you have already accumulated. It is to my eyes a nice bit of harmonious colouring. Let it say to you how much, how very much, I enjoyed your sketches.--Yours very truly,

E.A. STRANGFORD.

"_P.S._--I bought the work from a Persian at Antioch."

To Professor Church Mr. Aitchison wrote after Leighton's death: "I cannot urge the preservation of his home and surroundings, as I built the house, for there are always too many to attribute low motives to everybody, and it would be called personal advertisement; though when one's work is done it becomes almost impersonal, and if it did not, the fact remains the same, that here he (Leighton) lived and drew part of his culture and inspiration from his surroundings. As a mere matter of reverence, how many would come from all parts of the civilised world to see his abode!"