Frederick, Lord Leighton 1830-1896This piece is very near and dear to my heart not just because I am an artist also but because you can just see the love between them. Not just for each other but also for the piece he is working on. If my husband tried to lean over me like this while I was working on something I would kill him for it. To share an intimate moment of creation with someone else is a very heartfelt moment.
This is not the usual composition of Leighton, normally he did nude or classical images. The man's hands are done in incredible detail to show how important they are to his work. The part I found most amusing about this piece is that Leighton deliberately prevented it from being shown publicly in the years following its completion. Many of his contemporaries believed he felt he had betrayed too much of his own emotion to feel comfortable exhibiting the picture. Maybe he at one point or another had a moment like this in his own life and did not want to share with the public.
Happy Valentine's day to all the lovers, may all your days be filled with love and happiness.
