This piece is called Flaming June by British painter, Frederic Leighton. It’s now one of the most famous paintings in the world, but it hasn’t always been that way. When you first lay your eyes on this beautiful painting, you may think her life has been easy, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. She’s been forgotten for decades, abandoned behind a false panel of a chimney mantel, stripped from her original opulent frame, thrown in the back of a junk shop and rejected by countless art collectors. It was purchased for £60 in 1962 and is now worth millions. The sitter for the painting is Dorothy Dene, born Ada Alice Pullen. Dorothy posed for many of Leighton’s paintings, which is why she is now referred to as his muse. Dene and Leighton’s relationship was cryptic and complicated. What’s for sure is that, together they created one of the most iconic paintings of all time.