Study of Three Standing Draped Female Figures for "Music"

Frederic, Lord Leighton

Black and white chalk on brown paper

Metropolitan Museum of Art

This drawing depicts three classically robed female figures standing in close proximity, rendered in black and white chalks on brown paper. The right-hand figure holds an open song book, and the group corresponds directly to figures appearing at the right of Leighton's painted decorative frieze "Music" (1885), commissioned for the drawing room of collector Stewart Hodgson at 1 South Audley Street, London. The sheet is a drapery study, reflecting Leighton's methodical working practice of proceeding from color oil sketch, to nude chalk studies, and finally to finished drapery drawings. Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830–1896) was the preeminent British academic painter of the Victorian era, serving as President of the Royal Academy from 1878 until his death, and is celebrated for his mastery of classical figuration, luminous color, and the rendering of drapery.