Clearly autobiographical in its choice of subject, the work is invested with a personal symbolism and raw emotion that is almost unparalleled in the artist's output. The subject is taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses about the heartbroken nymph Clytie who, rejected by Apollo, spent nine days in a wild and isolated place watching as her former lover drove his chariot of the sun across the sky. She neither ate nor drank and as pallor spread over her body, she became rooted to the ground and began to take on the form of a flower. This is the first mature work by the artist to enter the collection at Leighton House. This work was acquired with assistance from the Wolfson Foundation.

Provenance

Executors of Lord Leighton; Fine Art Society; Sir James Knowles; Christie's, 1908; Sampson; Prince Shri Ranjitsinhji; by descent; private collection; Sotheby's, 1995; private collection; Sotheby's, 1997; private collection, Australia; priva