Leighton was born in
Scarborough to a family in the import & export profession. He was educated at
University College School London. He then received his legal training on the European continent, first from
Edward von Steinle and then from
Giovanni Costa. When in Florence, aged 24, where he studied at the
Accademia di Belle Arti, he painted the procession of the
Cimabue Madonna through the Borgo Allegri. He lived in Paris from 1855 to 1859, where he met
Ingres, Delacroix, Corot and
Millet.
In 1860, he moved to
London, England, where he associated with the
Pre-Raphaelites. He designed
Elizabeth Barrett Browning's tomb for
Robert Browning in the
'English' Cemetery, Florence in 1861. In
1864 he became an associate of the
Royal Academy and in 1878 he became its President (1878–96). His
1877 sculpture,
Athlete Wrestling with a Python, was considered at its time to inaugurate a renaissance in contemporary British sculpture, referred to as the
New Sculpture. His paintings represented Britain at the great 1900 Paris Exhibition.
Leighton was
knighted at
Windsor in 1878, and was created a
baronet eight years later. He was the first painter to be given a
peerage, in the New Year Honours List of 1896. The patent creating him
Baron Leighton of Stretton in the County of
Shropshire, was issued on
24 January 1896; Leighton died the next day of
angina pectoris.
As he was unmarried, after his death his
Barony was extinguished after existing for only a day; this is an all-time record in the Peerage. His house in
Holland Park, London has been turned into a museum, the
Leighton House Museum. It contains a number of his drawings and paintings, as well as some of his sculptures (including
Athlete Wrestling with a Python). The house also features many of Leighton's inspirations, including his collection of Isnik tiles. Its centrepiece is the magnificent Arab Hall.
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