Frederick Leighton was born in 1830 in northern England and studied painting in Europe.  He painted a Madonna in 1844 Florence and in 1855 went to Paris where he met Ingres and Delacroix.  He moved to London in 1860 where four years later he joined the Royal Academy. 

Below, Leighton's Pre-Raphaelite masterpiece of 1869, Icarus, is a wonderful depiction of the preparations of Daedelus for the flight of Icarus. We see no foreshadowing of the tragic end of this great experiment. It may be an allegory of the efforts of Man to overcome his natural limitations. I have created a reproduction of Leighton's Icarus for your purchase.

Icarus

His scultpure Athlete Wrestling with a Python of 1877 caused a sensation and the next year he became president of the academy and was knighted by the Queen.  He died the day after he was ennobled in 1896, the first British artist to be so honored. 

Leighton was manifestly the most recognized and most successful of Victorian artists.  His home has been made into the Leighton House Museum.