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What is shown in Henri Rousseau’s The Sleeping Gypsy?
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Henri Rousseau
Myself: Portrait-Landscape, oil on canvas by Henri Rousseau, 1890; in the National Gallery, Prague. 146 × 113 cm.
In Henri Rousseau’s 1897 oil painting The Sleeping Gypsy, a dark-skinned woman is depicted sleeping in a moonlit, bare desert landscape. A large lion stands over her, appearing transfixed as it sniffs at her shoulder.12
The scene also includes a jug and a mandolin placed on the ground near the woman, who lies stiffly while still clutching a walking staff. The composition is bathed in the eerie light of a full moon, creating a dreamlike atmosphere that balances themes of peace and danger, as well as mystery and whimsy.21