"Portrait of Charles Edward Perugini," by Frederic Leighton

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Carlo Perugini (1839–1918)

Frederic Lord Leighton, P. R. A. (1830-1896)

1855

Oil on canvas

H 59.6 x W 55 cm

Leighton House Museum, accession no. LH3031

Purchased with the assistance of the Victoria and Albert Museum Purchase Grant Fund, the Art Fund and the Friends of Leighton House and 18 Stafford Terrace

Image credit: The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Culture Service, Leighton House Museum. [Click on the image to enlarge it. See below for commentary, and mouse over the text for links.]

Leighton painted the portrait in Paris, where Perugini had gone to paint in the studio of Ary Scheffer. He was much taken with the young man, whom he had previously met in Rome: "He is a charming boy, most gentlemanlike, and has that peculiar childlike simplicity which belongs to none but Italians," and considered the portrait of him in period costume to be "the best thing of the kind I ever did" (qtd. in Barrington 241, 237). It was Leighton who urged him to return to England, where he helped him to find his feet in the art world.

Link to Related Material

Scanned image, text and formatting by Jacqueline Banerjee. Downloaded via Art UK for purposes of academic research.

Bibliography

Barrington, Mrs Russell. The Life, Letters and Work of Frederic Leighton. Vol. I. London: George Allen, Ruskin House, 1906. Project Gutenberg. Web. 25 September 2024.

Carlo Perugini. Art UK. Web. 25 September 2024.

"Frederic, Lord Leighton, PRA (British 1830-1896): Portrait of Charles Edward Perugini (1839-1918)." Bonham's. Web. 25 September 2024. https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/14218/lot/211/

Created 25 September 2024

Last modified 23 October 2024