Flaming June - Frederic Leighton

Flaming June is a striking 120 x 120 cm oil on canvas painting that was painted by Sir Frederic Leighton in 1895. This painting was originally planned to be a motif, or ornament, in one of his other paintings, Summer Slumber, but he cherished the design so much that he decided to make it a painting itself. This was painted in the Late Classical period.

The model used in the painting was an actress named Dorothy Dene. Leighton admired her greatly, and she can be found as a model in many of his paintings. The models unique position in this piece gave Leighton much trouble in reproducing. Many sketches of his can be found where he is trying to get the placement of her body just right. The scene takes place in front of a large body of water with the sun setting behind her as can be seen in the background. The fabric with which the brilliant, bright orange cloth is made of is very unique and has a puzzling texture. On her body, the cloth is transparent and thin, while around the edges of her body it appears to be thicker and more opaque. It and the other cloths around her have the appearance of melting, furthering the warmth of the scene. The model is resting on a marble bench on the edge of a marble balcony.

In the top, right hand corner is the Oleander plant. This plant is poisonous if ingested and makes the viewer wonder if the woman is in a deep slumber, or in fact, recently dead. The flower illustrates the fine line between sleep and death. In the bottom left of the orange fabric, the profile of Leighton in a portrait done by G. F. Watt can be seen.

This piece is commonly criticized for being too idealistic and is often compared to "a travel brochure". The warm climate, open ocean, sunset, slight eroticism with the visible right nipple make critics despise the painting for some reason. However the painting is incredibly aesthetically attractive and nice to look at.



Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flaming_June
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/great-works/leighton-frederic-flaming-june-1895-814972.html
http://everypainterpaintshimself.com/article/lord_leightons_flaming_juneon
http://kennywordsmith.hubpages.com/hub/Flaming-June---My-take