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The Sleeping Endymion

By Simeon Solomon

1887

Accession number: 1908P307

Blue, red and other coloured chalks on paper.

Width: 492 mm

Height: 297 mm

A nude male youth reclines across the foreground on drapery which also entwines his hips; he holds his head up on his left hand, almost in profile to the left, eyes closed, and holds a shepherd's crook which is lying on the ground in front of him, with his right hand. He is surrounded by countryside with a line of trees behind him on the left, undulating hills in the distance and a full moon in the sky above the trees.

Information

The Greek god Zeus gave the beautiful shepherd boy Endymion eternal youth and life by causing him to sleep forever. The moon goddess Selene fell in love with Endymion and returned every night to look at him. Solomon was fascinated by sleep and dreams, they formed the subject of many of his pictures.

  • Presented by Cecil F. Crofton, 1908.
  • © Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery

Makers

Association Artist Organisation
Artist Simeon Solomon -

Inscriptions

Type Position(s) Method Date(s) Notes
SS 1887
Monogram bottom right Handwritten 1887 Pencil
 

Exhibitions

Catalogue No. Venue Date(s)
Solomon: A Family of Painters: Abraham Solomon (1823-1862), Rebecca Solomon (1832-1886), Simeon Solomon (1840-1905
67 Geffrye Museum, London 1985-11-08 - 1985-12-31
67 Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery 1986-01-18 - 1986-03-09
 
Dei ed Eroi
46 Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy 1995-03-15 - 1995-05-30
 
Exposed: The Victorian Nude
81 Tate Britain, London 2001-11-01 - 2002-01-27
81 Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany 2002-03-01 - 2002-06-02
81 Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, U.S.A. 2002-09-06 - 2003-01-05
 

Literature

Author(s) Date(s) Publisher Pages
City of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery: Illustrated Catalogue (with descriptive notes) of the Permanent Collection of Paintings in the Art Gallery and in Aston Hall and elsewhere
1909 - no. 562, p. 109.
 
Abraham Solomon, Painter of Fashion, and Simeon Solomon, Decadent Artist
Lionel Lambourne 1968 The Jewish Historical Society of England, London pl. 28, fig. 20, p. 278; pp. 284-285.
 
Simeon Solomon and the Romantic Poets
Steven Kolsteren May 1984 - fig. 4.
 
Solomon: A Family of Painters: Abraham Solomon (1823-1862), Rebecca Solomon (1832-1886), Simeon Solomon (1840-1905)
Jeffery Daniels 1985 Inner London Education Authority no. 67, p. 76; p. 77.
 
Exposed: The Victorian Nude
Alison Smith 2001 Tate Publishing, London no. 81, p. 158; p. 159.

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