Frederic Leighton

'This book offers a compelling and highly original interpretation of Frederic Leighton's art by arguing for a gothic impulse in the work of this quintessential exponent of Victorian classicism. In her nuanced account, revealing the body as a site of deep ambivalence in Leighton's work, Hammerschlag connects his preoccupation with themes of death, resurrection and revivification to contemporaneous social anxieties about modernity. Deftly interweaving social and cultural history, this book demonstrates why Leighton mattered in his own time and how he continues to do so in ours. Smart, timely and engagingly written, this book is essential reading for those interested in British art, cultural histories of the nineteenth-century and contemporary aesthetic debates.' Mary Roberts, University of Sydney, Australia

'Keren Hammerschlag's enterprising and sympathetic new interpretation of the work of Frederic Leighton reveals the full complexity and resonance of many compositions that have been little discussed. By drawing attention to the ever-present themes of death and mortality, and by placing those concerns in the wider context of Victorian culture, she reveals a hitherto overlooked and significant aspect of his oeuvre. Leighton's religious paintings, too, finally receive the attention they deserve.' Tim Barringer, Yale University, USA