Sir Frederic Leighton (1830-96) was one of the leading artists of his age and belonged to the “aesthetic” movement. He focused on mythical subjects where mood and physical beauty and colour were prioritised over story or moralising. Leighton started the painting as a motif to adorn a marble bath in his another work, ‘Summer Slumber’, but he liked it so much that he decided to paint a separate canvas for it. The artist was suffering from his last illness while working on it and he passed away the following year.
The model of the painting was his companion Dorothy Dene who later became a stage actress. Leighton was a master in playing with colours and the sleeping beauty is dressed in a bright orange against a bluish background bringing riot of colours. ‘Flaming June’ is now displayed in the Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico. — M.I.
Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, January 25th, 2015
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