Artwork Page for Sleep

Details / Information for Sleep

Sleep

c. 1771

Jean Bernard Restout

(French, 1732–1797)
Culture
France, 18th century
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
Framed: 127.5 x 160 x 14 cm (50 3/16 x 63 x 5 1/2 in.); Unframed: 97.6 x 130 cm (38 7/16 x 51 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1963.502
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
216B French and German
Print
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Did You Know?

A source of inspiration for this painting was probably the Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses, which describes the god of sleep as living in a cave with sleep-inducing poppies at the entrance.

Description

The tradition of painting nude male figures in a studio setting was the cornerstone of artistic practice, teaching artists to depict the human body in complex poses in order to create larger narratives. However, by the late 1700s, some artists began to see these studies as independent works of art. By adding the wings and the poppies, Restout transformed his study into a more specific subject, and he first exhibited the work in a privately organized exhibition in 1783 under the title of Morpheus, the god of sleep.
A horizontally oriented oil painting depicts a nude man with light skin tone leaning back on his white-feathered wings, eyes closed. His legs are closest to us, lower right, and his head furthest, upper left. His right arm hangs to the side. His left hand rests in his lap, holding the leafy stem of a gray poppy. He has feathery gray hair and his skin pulls taut against his ribs.

Sleep

c. 1771

Jean Bernard Restout

(French, 1732–1797)
France, 18th century

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