From the picture by Lord Leighton, P.R.A., in the possession of Sir Joseph W. Pease, Bart., M.P., and reproduced by his kind permission. Size of the canvas, 41[3/4 x 40½ inches. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1874; at the Guildhall Gallery in 1895; at the Exhibition of the Works of Lord Leighton at Burlington House in 1897, and at an Exhibition of a Selection of his Works at Leighton House, Holland Park Road, in 1901.
THE “Moorish Garden” is a picture of peculiar beauty. It stands conspicuous among the beautiful works of Leighton, as if it claimed to be the spontaneous outcome of his ardent love for the country in which this blossoming garden was studied; painted, it would seem, for the very love of it, with the intention of retaining it among his personal surroundings, to recall to him the tranquil airs, the lustrous skies and the rich groves of Granada.
Leighton called the picture also “A Dream of Granada.” A dream it is of the manner in which the day passed in a Moorish palace, at a time when the Moor, with his thousand years of monarchy behind him, was still the ruler of the land. It was favoured by nature in its adjacent fertile plains and its sheltering snow-tipped mountains, and endowed with the romance of countless deeds of chivalry. “Beautiful Granada! the soft note of the lute no longer floats through thy moonlit streets; the serenade is no more heard beneath thy balconies; the lively castanet is silent upon thy hills.” Small wonder is it that Boabdil, when banished by Ferdinand and Isabella from the lovely city, turned and gazed back, with that inexpressible sigh, at the kingdom he had lost — the beautiful Vega, the towers of the Alhambra, the gardens of the Generalife — and immortalized his sorrow by the legend which, to this day, attaches to the spot from which that farewell look was taken, “El ultimo sospiro del Moro,” — the last sigh of the Moor.
Bordered by cypresses and rose-trees in full bloom, and overhung with arches of creeping plants, the water streams straight down in the centre of the picture, through a leafy alley, over a white marble watercourse, at the far end of which the Palace is seen. To this stately place the young figure belongs, who now in sumptuous clothing paces the cool court, and no more fitting companions could their beautiful mistress have than the stately birds that step daintily after her, with almost conscious pride, their glorious plumage filling the foreground with a wondrous beauty both of form and colour.
Note in the white peacock the single slender feather that stands out brightly against the shadow of the stonework, thus dexterously checking the long and
monotonous line of white which runs from the bird’s neck to the margin of the picture; and how entirely natural, in its fullness of plumage, is the other bird, the ordered entanglement of feathers being accurately drawn and followed out, and the weight and construction of the bird given with very noticeable faithfulness.
Sir Joseph Pease, in narrating the manner in which he became possessed of this picture, says: “For several years I lived when in London in Kensington Palace Gardens, and whilst there, my wife and I formed the acquaintance, which I think I may say ripened into friendship, of Lord Leighton (then Mr. Leighton).
“In one of his calls he took up a sketch book of my wife’s and seemed very kindly interested in it. A little while after (I think it must have been in the early spring or summer of 1873), she and I were walking past his house as he came out at the door. After a little conversation he begged us to come in to see his Spanish sketches. Among them was one of the old Moorish Palace at Granada, with the river Ebro running through it, and another was of a little girl feeding peacocks in a garden.
“My wife said to him, ‘Why don’t you put the little girl and the peacocks into the garden of the Palace?’ He replied, ‘Upon my word I will do it some day.’ I said, ‘Will you do it for me?’ and he replied, ‘With all my heart.’
“After several notes asking me to come and see the picture, he wrote me (in March, 1874) one of his beautifully courteous letters, which ran as follows:
“‘Athenaeum Club,
“‘26 March, 1874.
“‘Dear Mr. Pease,
“The picture which I have been painting for you approaches completion, and bids fair, I think, to be a great favourite amongst my friends. Altho’ I have reserved it for you hitherto, I have not nevertheless considered you bound to me till I should have told you the price, and you have told me whether it is beyond your convenience. The time is however come when I must give other friends who may ask for it a decisive answer, and I therefore write to ask you to let me know as soon as you can whether you purpose having it. The price is —
“‘Awaiting your answer,
“‘I am, dear Mr. Pease,
“‘Yours very truly,
“‘Fred. Leighton.’”
The sketch (10½ x 11½) alluded to above of the old Moorish Palace at Granada, on which this picture is partly based, was sold at Messrs. Christie’s in the summer of 1896, in the sale of the effects of the deceased painter, and it was purchased by Mr. W. W. Ouless, R.A. It was shown at the Exhibition of the Works of Lord Leighton at Burlington House in 1897, and at an Exhibition of a Selection of his works at Leighton House in 1901.
