Not on display
- Artist
- Frederic, Lord Leighton 1830–1896
- Medium
- Bronze
- Dimensions
- Object: 1911 × 902 × 597 mm
- Collection
- Tate
- Acquisition
- Presented by Sir Henry Tate 1894
- Reference
- N01752
Display caption
Leighton struck a balance between the real and the ideal in this life-size bronze sculpture of a perfect male body. It is modern in the way it seizes on a momentary and languid pose, and yet artificial in the way the muscles are emphasised and all personal individuality suppressed. The Sluggard was made for exhibition at the Royal Academy. The fig leaf that hides the penis was a convention intended to neutralise any sexual appeal while the sculpture was on public display. Leighton made few sculptures, but like his paintings they were based on skill in drawing outlines.
Gallery label, February 2010
Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? We would like to hear from you.
Explore
- emotions, concepts and ideas(16,402)
-
- emotions and human qualities(5,348)
-
- laziness(15)
- religious and ceremonial(1,732)
-
- wreath(55)
- actions: postures and motions(8,992)
-
- arm / arms raised(823)
- standing(3,102)
- stretching(26)
- man(10,404)
- male(959)
- equestrian and sporting(229)
-
- athlete(16)
You might like
-
Frederic, Lord Leighton An Athlete Wrestling with a Python
1877 -
Frederic, Lord Leighton Needless Alarms
1886 -
Frederic, Lord Leighton Sketch for ‘An Athlete Wrestling with a Python’
c.1877 -
Frederic, Lord Leighton Study for ‘Needless Alarms’
1886 -
Frederic, Lord Leighton And the Sea Gave Up the Dead Which Were in It
exhibited 1892 -
Frederic, Lord Leighton Cain and Abel
published 1881 -
Frederic, Lord Leighton The Bath of Psyche
exhibited 1890 -
Frederic, Lord Leighton Helios and Rhodes
date not known -
Frederic, Lord Leighton Sketches for Cimon and Iphigenia
date not known -
Edward Onslow Ford Folly
exhibited 1886 -
Sir Hamo Thornycroft Teucer
1881 -
Sir Alfred Gilbert John Howard, the Prison Philanthropist
c.1893–4 -
Sir Hamo Thornycroft The Mower
1888–90 -
Frederic, Lord Leighton Eliezer and Rebekah
published 1881 -
Edward Onslow Ford The Singer
exhibited 1889