Flaming June in...December?

In title alone, Flaming June (Frederic Leighton, 1895) may seem an odd choice to inspire the cover of the December issue of Vogue. But Annie Leibovitz's stunning shot of Jessica Chastain graces newsstands with an unmistakable invocation of Leighton's Aesthetic Movement muse. 

Annie Leibovitz for Vogue

Annie Leibovitz for Vogue

It's refreshing to see that the magazine carefully credits the eight masterpieces that inspire the Leibovitz / Chastain spread - from a photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron to a painting by René Magritte. The latter is the most daring and direct homage, and the most essentially Leibowitz. Gone are the elaborate gowns featured in the other shots; Chastain becomes the mysterious modern Artemis of Magritte's surreal painting. Both images are fraught with a subtle menace: we feel that if the figure were to turn around, not only would our voyeuristic stance be challenged, but we might suffer the same fate as Actaeon.