Frederic Leighton is inextricably linked to the "classical" movement in late Victorian art. However, long before he was a classicist, Leighton's oeuvre was dominated by subjects from the late medieval/early Renaissance periods. The roots of Leighton's mature classicism are to be found in his so-called "gothic" works of this early period [c. 1846 (the date of his enrollment in the Stadelshes Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt, Germany) to 1864 (the date of his election as an Associate of the Royal Academy of Arts in London)], a period wherein he enjoyed a continued and direct exposure to the art of Italy, Germany, and France. A detailed accounting of Leighton's formative years and the profound effect exercised by his experience of the art of continental Europe is lacking. While art historians acknowledge that Leighton's work is much more complex than a simple reading might suggest, they invariably focus on his mature classicizing works. Leighton, however, viewed his works---be they from his "gothic" period or his "classical" period---as part of one continuum. Modern commentators routinely overlook this fact and divide his career into distinct periods. It is this compartmentalized view that this dissertation seeks to counter.

Leighton's art is the product of a unique and highly selective process that would only have been conceivable in the context of his early cosmopolitan artistic experiences. An understanding of the circumstances that led to the formation of his early works elucidates the process whereby he developed a direct, transnational, and ultimately modern formulation of classicism centered on formal concerns.

This dissertation examines Leighton's early career in the context of (1) his encounter with the art of the early Italian Renaissance and the art and artists of the German Nazarene movement; (2) the reception of his early works in Europe and America; (3) his encounter with French neoclassicism; and (4) its implications for his mature classicism.