Smithsonian American Art Museum
Sleeping Beauty
Henry Brintnell Bounetheau, born Charleston, SC 1797-died Charleston, SC 1877 · ca. 1850
The artist’s slightly risqué painting of a partially nude, sleeping woman has a venerable source: John Vanderlyn’s famous painting Ariadne Asleep on the Isle of Naxos. Here, Henry Brintnell Bounetheau moved his more demurely clad figure indoors and showed only her upper torso, whereas Vanderlyn’s painting placed his full-length, nearly nude sleeping beauty outdoors. Conservation of this miniature was made possible through a generous grant provided by the Smithsonian Women’s Committee.
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