Le Sommeil d'Endymion-Berryer

Honoré Daumier

National Gallery of Art

This is a drawing of two figures in a wooded setting. The scene is framed in an ornate, Baroque-style border. In the center, there are two figures: one resembling a plump, reclining form with a draped fabric partially covering its lower half, while it leans back with eyes closed. The second figure appears to be a ghostly presence hovering above and to the side of the first. This spectral figure is rendered with lighter shading, giving it a translucent quality, and it seems to be gesturing upwards. The background is animated with dark, dense foliage, and there are beams of light that pierce through the overhead canopy, casting illumination onto the central figures. The style of the drawing is loose and fluid, characterized by flowing lines and contrast between light and shadow.