Such was Leighton’s depth of feeling towards Venice in that 1879 he collaborated with William Morris and The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. The society was created by Morris and Philip Webb to campaign against the unsympathetic restoration of traditional architecture in Britain. Their argument was that buildings should be preserved thus maintaining their history, rather than trying to recreate an idealistic vision of what the buildings would have looked like in the past. Although the society concentrated on historic buildings in Britain it applied its vision to Venice when the façade of the Basilica di San Marco was to be pulled down and reconstructed. When Leighton heard about this he joined forces with Morris in a successful campaign to prevent this from happening.
Leighton was a great traveller and visited or lived in many cities in France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, North Africa and the Middle East to name a few. But Venice seemed to have particularly captured his imagination. The city, rich in art, history, decoration and architectural flourishes proved an inspiration to Leighton, which allowed him to concentrate on sketching when he first visited it as a young man. It is as if the charm of the city allowed him to step back from paternal and social pressure. Later, Venice became the subject of the emotional ‘Widow’s Prayer’, set in San Marco Basilica, for which he campaigned with William Morris. Even the palazzo of the city inspired him for the architecture and the organisation of the internal space of his Kensington home. Venice influenced Leighton’s drawings, paintings and design of home throughout his life.