Cupids Disarming Sleeping Nymphs

Giuseppe Maria Crespi

National Gallery of Art

The painting shows a view of a dark sky and a sloping, tree-filled landscape. The horizon line is low, with small hills and dark trees silhouetted against the blue-green sky. Below the trees, women are sleeping on the ground. They all have pale skin and light hair, and they are draped in fabric in shades of red, yellow, blue, and green. Around the sleeping women, cherubs are engaged in mischievous activities. These cherubs are nude, with pale skin and hair in shades of brown and blond. They have small white wings growing out of their backs. The cherubs rifle through golden chests that are next to the sleeping women or try to poke their faces with small objects. Many of them are looking at one another with their fingers to their lips. In the bottom, a few dogs look up at the cherubs, as if they had been woken up from sleep. A small deer lays on the ground in the bottom left. The ground is brown and covered with small stones, and there is a low stone wall in the bottom right corner.