alb3657849
Sleep. Artist: Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (French, Lyons 1824-1898 Paris). Dimensions: 26 1/8 x 41 3/4 in. (66.4 x 106 cm). Date: ca. 1867-70.The motif of sleep offered Puvis the opportunity to depict reclining bodies from the front, the back, and the side, embracing and alone. This is a smaller replica of an 1867 painting (Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille) that Puvis regarded as his "favorite work." He associated the composition with a fragment from the Aeneid by the ancient Roman poet Virgil: "It was the hour when the first rest of weary mortals begins" (book 2, line 268). The text refers to a brief (and illusory) respite from war, but Puvis portrays untroubled repose after harvesting--a recurring theme in his art. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.
DC