CHAPTER II[ToC]
ILLUSTRATIONS FOR CORNHILL MAGAZINE—FRESCO FOR LYNDHURST
CHURCH—ASSOCIATE OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY—MRS. LEIGHTON'S DEATH
1863-1865
In 1860 Leighton drew his first illustration for the Cornhill Magazine:—
Translation.]
Friday, 30th November 1860.
My dear Friend and Master,—Best thanks for your dear letter of the 7th, thanks also especially, because in your kind praise you do not spare criticism also; you could give me no better proof that you still esteem and love your old pupil. I feel the justice of your remarks about the drapery of the Saviour very much, and can only say in my excuse that I have treated this kind of subject very little, for I am only really a profane fellow; but should I at some future time again treat such a theme, I should endeavour to avoid similar faults. I send you this time, for fun, a proof impression of a woodcut after a drawing I made for one of our good monthly periodicals (The Cornhill Magazine). It seems to me to be not bad for wood. It illustrates a poem, and represents Ariadne kneeling on an eminence, looking out for Theseus. This as a preliminary; I hope to send you something in April.
Dearest Mammy,—My wretched picture is causing more delays! I am very sorry to say I shan't be able to get to Bath before Wednesday evening. I am due at Stourhead the 27th; this I cannot defer any more, as I must be on duty with the Rifle Corps at the beginning of September, and can't do all I have to do in less than a week—this will, however, still leave me three weeks, all but two days, at Bath.
I enjoyed myself at Panshanger very much—did I write to tell you who our party was? In case I did not, it was as follows: Henry Greville, Lord and Lady Katherine Valletort, Lord and Lady Spencer, Mrs. Leslie, Lord Listowel, Mr. Clare Vyner, and Mr. E. Lascelles—all young people; so that it was very pleasant.
There are, as you know, most beautiful pictures at Panshanger—a magnificent Vandyke, a splendid Rembrandt, Correggio, Andrea del Sarto, and two beautiful Raphaels.