Cephalus and the Nymphs

Bernardino Luini

National Gallery of Art

This is a painting of a pastoral scene with a person standing beside a group of sleeping people and animals. The setting includes rolling green hills and towering trees on the right, with a distant gray castle on a mountain to the left. Near the bottom left, there is a person standing and holding a long, thin staff. This person has pale skin and curly blond hair, and they wear a purple dress or robe and laced sandals. They are looking towards us, and their right hand is gesturing towards a group of two people and three animals on the right who are all curled on the grassy ground, appearing to sleep. These people wear clothes in shades of yellow, red, and white, and they also seem to have pale skin and blond hair. The animals look like small dogs. The sky above is pale gray-blue color with soft clouds.