The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 12, 2024

Woman Sleeping in a Landscape with a Letter

Woman Sleeping in a Landscape with a Letter

c. 1800
(French, 1780–1847)
France, 18th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 36 x 44 cm (14 3/16 x 17 5/16 in.); Unframed: 32.4 x 40.6 cm (12 3/4 x 16 in.)
Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2008.289
Location: not on view

Description

The subject matter here probably comes from an English novel popular in France around 1800. The monument’s inscription indicates that the wife of Fotheringham, an English military leader in India, has recently died. The reclining woman (perhaps sleeping, mourning, or dead) has dropped a portrait miniature of Fotheringham, accompanying a letter to his mother. The narrative has yet to be deciphered, but the husband may have written home, unaware of his wife’s death.
  • 1979-
    Jan G. Milner, sold to Noah L. Butkin
    1979-1980
    Noah L. Butkin (1918-1980), Shaker Heights, Ohio, by inheritance to his wife, Muriel Butkin
    1980-2008
    Muriel Spiro Butkin (1915-2008), Shaker Heights, Ohio, upon her death, held in trust by the estate
    2008
    Estate of Muriel Butkin, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2008-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Woman Sleeping in a Landscape with a Letter|url=false|author=Bernard Gaillot|year=c. 1800|access-date=12 May 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2008.289