Frederic Leighton received his Art education at the University College School London. He also received legal education on the European continent, first from Edward von Steinle and then from Giovanni Costa. At age 24, while in Florence, Italy, 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 such great contemporary painters as Ingres, Delacroix, Corot and Millet and Picasso. In 1860, Leighton moved to London, England, where he associated with the Pre-Raphaelite painters. 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 paintings represented Britain at the great 1900 Paris Exhibition.

The rich colors and his brilliant handling of fabrics and drapery show a skill and experience few could match. Leighton noted, “Combination of expressed motion and rest [are the] source of fascination in drapery — wayward flow & ripple like a living water together with absolute repose”.