The Daphnephoria (Leighton)

The Daphnephoria is an oil painting by Frederic Leighton, first exhibited in 1876.

Background
The Daphnephoria was a triumphal procession held every ninth year at Thebes in honour of Apollo, to whom the laurel was sacred, and to commemorate also a victory of the Thebans over the Aeolians of Arne.At this festival, celebrated by the Boeotians, it was usual, says Lemprière,
 * to adorn an olive bough with garlands of laurel and other flowers, and place on the top a brazen globe, from which were suspended smaller ones. In the middle was placed a number of crowns, and a globe of inferior size, and the bottom was adorned with a saffron-coloured garment. The globe on the top represented the Sun, or Apollo; that in the middle was an emblem of the moon, and the others of the stars. The crowns, which were 365 in number, represented the sun's annual revolution. This bough was carried in solemn procession by a beautiful youth of an illustrious family, whose parents were both living. He was dressed in rich garments which reached to the ground, his hair hung loose and dishevelled, his head was covered with a golden crown, and he wore on his feet shoes called Iphricatidæ, from Iphricates, an Athenian who first invented them. He was called Δαφνηφóρος, 'laurel-bearer,' and at that time he executed the office of priest of Apollo. He was preceded by one of his nearest relations, bearing a rod adorned with garlands, and behind him followed a train of virgins with branches in their hands. In this order the procession advanced as far as the temple of Apollo, surnamed Ismenius, where supplicatory hymns were sung to the god
 * John Lemprière; qtd. in Rhys, Ernest (1900). Frederic Lord Leighton: An Illustrated Record of his Life and Work. London: George Bell & Sons. p. 35.

Description

 * The procession is seen defiling along a terrace backed by trees through which the clear southern sky gleams. A youth carrying the symbolic olive bough, called the Kopo, adorned with its curious emblems, leads the procession. He is clad in purple robes and crowned with leaves. The youthful priest, known as the Daphnephoros (the laurel-bearer) follows, clothed in white raiment. He is similarly crowned, and carries a slim laurel stem. Then come three boys, in scanty red and green draperies, which serve only to emphasize the beauty of their almost naked forms, the middle and tallest one bearing aloft a draped trophy of golden armour. These are seen to be pausing while the leader of the chorus, a tall, finely modelled man, whose back is turned, is giving directions to the chorus with uplifted right hand; in his left hand is a lyre, and the left arm from the elbow is characteristically draped. The first row of the chorus is composed of five children, clothed in purple, crowned with flowers; two rows of maidens, in blue and white, come next; and these in turn are succeeded by some boys with cymbals. The interest of the passing procession is very much enhanced by the effect produced on two lovely bystanders,—a girl and child in blue, beautifully designed, who are drawing water in the left foreground. In the valley below is seen the town of Thebes.
 * Rhys (1900), p. 34.
 * At the head of the procession is a youth of some sixteen or seventeen years bearing the standard with the symbols of the sun and other heavenly bodies. His figure is a beautiful presentment of budding manhood, and is perfect in its contour. The skin is dark, but glows with the vigour of young life. The features and the head betoken intelligence and earnestness. The whole pose has a distinction and a virility quite ennobling; he is indeed a puer viriliter, such as was the model of Polykleitos's "Diadumenos." He is nude save only for a loose embroidered drapery of reddish purple, which drooping over his shoulder envelops his loins. His dark hair is crowned with laurels and he wears light sandals.Behind him marches the majestic figure of the Daphnephoros or Laurel-bearer, towering above his fellow-processionists, as a fit type of the priest of the God of the Sun. He is youthful, and his fine figure, displaying almost heroic limbs beneath his vesture, is surmounted by a splendid head, full of the mental force of manhood and of the fire of devotion. His hair is black, but his skin is lighter than that of his young herald in front. He wears a golden diadem of many points and a heavy crown of laurel. In one hand he carries the consecrated branch of laurel, and with the other he gathers up into rich folds the trailing length of his creamy-white, gold-embroidered vestment. His feet are sandalled also and are, as are all the feet in the procession, exact examples of perfect form.The next figures are three young lads from thirteen to fifteen years of age—beautiful boys indeed, with skins more blond than that of the elder boy in front, and all of them have fair hair. The easy grace which characterizes the trio is thoroughly true to life—a natural abandon. Each has his distinctive burden: in the centre the eldest of the three carries on a pole the brazen cuirass of a warrior, stuffed with puffings of pale-pink silk; on the right the lad bears a richly-worked metal shield, and the other boy carries a crested helmet—emblems of the Theban victory. The drapery which enfolds lightly each exquisite figure is in shades of dark green, dark blue, and dull red.One's attention, however, is rather diverted from this beautiful group by the imposing Choragos, who is depicted full-back to the spectator. This is a superb piece of drawing and painting. He is for all the world a coloured representation of Doryphoros—Polykleitos's perfect male-adult. The form is splendid, the contours marking the very completeness of man's growth and strength. Here is the typical strong man of the Olympian Games, the champion of the Lists, no less than the Leader of the Chorus. His muscular development is a thing of beauty, not a mere "sack of potatoes," as Professor Lanteri ventures to call the ordinary British athlete. Each muscle, each ridge, each depression—that of the spine especially—is rendered with complete accuracy. The skin is lightish brown, one of the most brilliant and pulsating of Leighton's creations. The dignity of the head, well thrown back, and of the whole figure, is grand. His dark hair is crowned with laurel, and his feet wear the thin kid shoes of the race-course. He is nude, except for a piece of embroidered, cream-coloured drapery, which encircles his waist. In his left hand he holds his golden lyre, and with his right he is beating time to the singing girls who follow him.Three rows of maidens troop along with measured step and jaunty air. The first row is made up of five dainty little girls, tripping with childish glee, singing the while in harmony with the other girls behind. It is said the model which Leighton used here was Connie Gilchrist (afterwards Countess of Orkney), whose features and form he often reproduced. All have fair hair and blonde complexion. They wear thin, embroidered muslin draperies of pale shades of purple-blue, pale-blue, and greyish-pink, through which their lovely forms are clearly seen. All wear and carry laurel sprays.The next row has four big girls, upgrown, for the most part dark of skin and hair, with features sweetly refined and lit up with some of the ecstatic expression of the Daphnephoros, to whom they are a perfect balance in position and a splendid foil in the brilliance of the colours of their garments. These are fine textures of pearly-blue and pink, with tints of the faintest cobalt, having darker shades in the beautiful woven patterns. Their bosoms are chastely crossed with pale ribbon, and their feet are sandalled. They sing the deeper notes of the strain of praise.Behind these are others—two only are seen, but they are lovely figures—balancing with their darker skins and draperies the beautiful olive youth in front. Their features, their movements, and their colours are all in sympathetic gradation of tone with those of their companions.All these figures are keeping strict time as they march on the level marble pavement, and each girl carries in her delicately-painted hand a branch of laurel.To the chorus succeed five young boys, from ten to twelve years old, each one nude, except for his loin ribbon—very exquisite figures, showing the gradual growth and development from childhood to boyhood. These are coming up a steep ascent from the city and are screened by the shade of the trees. They bear small brazen or gilded-wooden tripods, for the service of the Daphnephoros when he offers incense in the Temple of Apollo, and they are wreathed heavily with laurel. Only boys trained as were the Greeks could at so tender an age carry such heavy burdens. Thus the procession advances, each male figure exactly showing a special characteristic of Polykleitos—the raised right foot.Behind the processionists is a line of spectators standing beneath the shade of the dark fir-trees and light green bushwood. The elder men are leaning on their sticks, as if meditating upon the time when they, too, were beauteous to look upon in the full heyday of happy youth. Their garments present a beautiful gradation of richly-hued colours—reds and purples and browns. On a wall, between the Daphnephoros and the leader-youth, are seated two figures, mother and daughter, in softly-coloured draperies of blue, red, and purple-pink.The background is made up of the grand stems of red stone pines, with openings here and there. That on the right is a peep-over-the-wall of a distant purple mountain standing up sharply against the clear sky. By the bridge, or parapet, is a marble standard, upon which doves have settled. This gives a pearly note of peace to the composition.Away down the path, behind the children of the tripods, lit in a half-veiled mystery of opal light, is the city of Thebes, with its white houses and a temple reposing under the lee of a rocky cliff, and beyond, the mountain range and a suggestion of water. In the actual foreground are two beautiful girl-figures drawing water from a well. Their heads are turned away, watching intently the moving figures, and perhaps regretting that their lot is not so joyous. The rich dark shades of blue and the tender hues of cobalt of their dresses accord well with their fair hair and show up their beautiful hands. Leighton must have taken in the whole scene with his mind's eye in the classics, and at Thebes he must have seen the actual living lovely forms he has painted.
 * Staley, Edgcumbe (1906). Lord Leighton of Stretton. London: The Walter Scott Publishing Co., Ltd.; New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 98–103.

Appraisal

 * Such delicacy and precision of drawing, and such sincerity of modelling, and such poetic finish are rare.
 * The Art Journal; qtd. in Staley (1906), p. 105.


 * No painter of our time maintains a firmer or more consistent adherence to those severe principles of design which have received the sanction of great examples in the past. Frederick Leighton has never lowered the standard of his work in deference to popular demand, and for this persistent devotion to his own best ideals he deserves well of all who share his faith in the power of beauty.
 * J. Comyns Carr; qtd. in Staley (1906), p. 106.


 * In the highest sense 'The Daphnephoria' is a beautiful picture; there is not only the poetry of the whole scene in its dignity as a religious festival, with the enthusiasm of devotion, but in every detail the exquisite harmonies of line and colour are enchanting. The scent of laurel leaves seems to impregnate the air, already laden with the aromatic perfumes of the pines."
 * Sir W. B. Richmond; qtd. in Staley (1906), p. 103.


 * The composition of the picture is quite remarkable for its simplicity in depicting a scene of fervid activity. There is no confusion: every figure is distinct and yet united in a completely satisfactory whole. There is dignity, such as that of the Cartoon-men, and there is balance, so that no one part outshines another.. The eye at a glance takes in the whole subject without fatigue, with no misjudgment. In it religion and poetry, beauty and pathos are all combined.The drawing is supreme. Leighton has here left his Cimabue model and taken up instead his Greeks—the differences in form, features, and characteristics are at once apparent. The pencilling of graceful and vigorous limbs is distinct and articulate, and every fold of white drapery is as pliant and natural as are his effects with heavier stuffs. The lips are moving, the feet are stepping, the pulses are beating, and the contour and suppleness of the bodies leave nothing to be desired.The colour-scheme is most refreshing. The garishness of strong hues is absent, and instead we have a sequence of creamy pinks, pearly blues, and creamy, greyish green, thrown up by backgrounds of dull red, dark purple, and staid-brown. The carnations are lovely and full of rich young blood, and exactly toned to race and age and sex. The eyes are full of fervid intelligence and reverent concentration. The lights and shadows are well disposed. The time of day is about evening, for, whilst the city is bathed in the westering rays of sunshine, the thick trees bestow a sweet and grateful shade over the path which the procession takes. There is perhaps a trace of the Tuscan purple haze over the blue mountains, but the atmosphere is clear and dry. Perspective and proportion are true to line and projection.The finish is perfect: nothing more could be done. Everything exactly reflects the character as well as the art of the painter in one word—thorough! What strikes the beholder at once, and what is borne in upon him more and more as this masterpiece is studied, is the enchanted spirit of dedication which pervades the solemnity. Each moving figure is under the spell of the Sun-god the beauteous Apollo—and, enwrapped in an aroma of profound reverence, is being drawn irresistibly to his mystic shrine.The "Daphnephoria" combines exhaustively all the ideals which Leighton set himself to achieve. Its subject is in perfect accord with his temperament, and lends itself absolutely to the luxurious interpretation of nature which he loved so earnestly. In it he revels in harmonious lines and in pleasant contrasts, and its technique agrees completely with his imagination. It is a lyric poem in most graceful Grecian measure. The "Cimabue’s Madonna" and the "Daphnephoria" are the Alpha and Omega of the Art of Leighton.
 * Staley (1906), pp. 103–105.