“The Interrupted Sleep”
Now for a little pastoral…
This lovely oil on canvas painting, titled “The Interrupted Sleep“, is by the French Rococo artist, François Boucher, from 1750. This is one of a pair of paintings that were created to hang on a pair of overdoors at the Bellevue Château, which was owned by Boucher’s most supportive patron, Madame de Pompadour. The other painting is titled “The Love Letter”.
One of Boucher’s favorite subjects was the pastoral. In this piece, a shepherd is playfully tickling the nose of a sleeping shepherdess with a piece of straw. This idea of innocence combined with sensuality is a theme also found in the Dutch genre paintings. A dog and sheep in the bottom right are witness to the scene. A chateau can be seen in the background.
The overall composition has a series of diagonals that intersect at the focal point between the two figures. This gives more of a complexity to an otherwise simple scene.
“The Interrupted Sleep” was first displayed with its other half, “The Love Letter” at the Paris Salon in 1753. “The Love Letter” depicts what may be the same girl, sharing the contents of a love letter with her confidante. The paintings were highly praised.
“The Interrupted Sleep” is currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the United States.
For more on François Boucher, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
