Most vividly, Leighton’s commitment to the academic school was manifested in his religious paintings. The atmosphere of these canvases is sublime, the characters are majestic and somewhat idealized. To work on the paintings of this series Leighton prepared more thoroughly than usual. He created countless sketches and sketches for them, and for a long time he searched for the necessary postures and facial expressions.
Quite often he turned for help to ancient statues or works of old masters. The influence of samples of classical sculpture is noticeable in the canvas “And the sea will give its dead.” The artist portrayed here drowned, resurrected and risen from the depths of the sea on the day of the Last Judgment.
For the first time this picture was exhibited in 1892. The Star of Bethlehem and Elisha, the resurrection of the Sunniman’s son, were written under the influence of the works of Renaissance painters. The fact that Leighton paid great attention to the biblical scenes, speaks of his “continental” upbringing. In British painting, such subjects were much less common, as the French, Germans or Italians.
English viewers were not too interested in scenes from the Holy Scriptures, so the religious branch of Leighton remained in the shadows. For example, the Bethlehem Star, shown at the Royal Academy exhibition, was critically accepted by critics. After the closing of the exhibition, Leighton could not sell this canvas.
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