Jun 13, 2024
[ the vision of endymion, sir edward john poynter. ]
— oil on canvas, 1902.
the painting is based around the greek myth of the young shepherd endymion (portrayed sleeping in the bottom of the painting) who fell in love with the goddess artemis (also known as diana, selene, goddess of the moon).
he wished for eternal sleep so that his lover goddess would visit him in his dreams, the eternal sleep is symbolized in the work as the red poppies on the sides of the painting. he sleeps, and the goddess descends in her drapery flowing about her, which adds the erotic nature to the dream-like state of the goddess.
more on my side blog.
