Currently not on view
The Sluggard,
1886 (cast in 1890)
More Context
Special Exhibition
<p>Leighton—one of the most prominent British painters and sculptors of the nineteenth century—originally made this work as a pendant to his sculpture <em>An Athlete Struggling with a Python</em>. The model for both was Giuseppe Valona; according to an observer, Valona was “a man of fine proportions” who, “weary one day of posing in the studio, threw himself back, stretched out his arms and gave a great yawn. Leighton saw the whole performance and fixed it roughly in clay straight off.” This anecdote suggests that the artist was inspired by the model’s spontaneous movement, although in fact Leighton had been exploring the same contrapposto pose as early as 1869. The work was seen as a response to the younger Thornycroft’s <em>Teucer</em>, and was immediately admired for its move “from hardness into suppleness and flexibility.”<br></p>
Information
1886 (cast in 1890)
Sotheby's, New York, sale no. 5003, February 19, 1983, lot 92; Duane Wilder; 2018 bequest to Princeton University Art Museum.
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