Ekphrasis no. 1

A mass of glossy, unruly black matter. Out of it appears the small figure of a young boy, seemingly no older than a toddler, baby fat still intact. Below him is a wrinkled, lived-in (well-loved?) sheet. He is lying on his back, his body on a slope. His right leg sticks out toward my view. It is calm and clearly resting. The left leg is in a more engaged stance: the knee is bent and the foot sits firmly on the cloth. The boy's torso curves slightly back and to the left, as if he is reaching for something. His right arm extends behind his head, elbow bent and hand gently clenched. Near this hand is the crown of his head, where pomegranates and leaves are nestled into his flowing locks of hair. His left hand is also closed, this time resting on the sheet beside his abdomen, pomegranates present. The boy's face explains it all. He is in an ecstasy-inducing sleep: his eyes are shut tightly but softly, his tiny lips are pulled apart just enough. But he is not the only one who sleeps. Below the left side of his head, which is presumably off in a grand dreamland as his countenance would suggest, is a squirrel. It is curled up to the sheet, front legs kept close to its head, where there are holes instead of ears. The tail end of the squirrel is elevated, while its head is further down. Its fluffy tail hangs lackadaisically off of the base, reflecting the states of both boy and squirrel.

(Il Sonno (1635/1636) by Alessandro Algardi, Galleria Borghese)