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Sleep

ca. 1867–70
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 800

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. By depicting sleepers of all ages, ranging from an old man to a mother cradling her baby, the artist creates an image of communal rest and protection.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Sleep
  • Artist: Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (French, Lyons 1824–1898 Paris)
  • Date: ca. 1867–70
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 26 1/8 x 41 3/4 in. (66.4 x 106 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915
  • Object Number: 30.95.253
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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A Muse of Poetry, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes French, Graphite and chalk on paper
A Muse of Poetry
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
19th century
Sleep: sketch for the painting, now in the museum at Lille, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes French, Pen and brown ink on tracing paper
Sleep: sketch for the painting, now in the museum at Lille
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
1840–98
Sketch for War, painting in the Museum of Picardy at Amiens, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes French, Black chalk touched with white and red chalk
Sketch for War, painting in the Museum of Picardy at Amiens
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
ca. 1861
Study for Geometry in “The Sorbonne", Pierre Puvis de Chavannes French, Fabricated black crayon, squared with blue crayon
Study for Geometry in “The Sorbonne"
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
1886–87
Seated Figure: Study for “A Vision of Antiquity”, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes French, Fabricated black crayon, squared
Seated Figure: Study for “A Vision of Antiquity”
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
1883–85

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