"Sleep, that Knits up the Ravell'd Sleave of Care"

Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale, ROI, RWS 1872-1945

From a photograph by Dixon & Son, London, after the original Water-colour in the Collection of Miss Evans

1900

Source: Sparrow 114

The quotation used in the title is from Macbeth, where it expresses Macbeth's anguish that conscience will no longer allow him to partake of sleep's healing quality. This painting, with its fairy-tale atmosphere, shows exactly what he has lost. A poor weary wayfarer, with torn trousers and shoes cast off, sleeps sweetly to the strains of a violin played by an angel on the bank above him.

Formatting and text by Jacqueline Banerjee [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the Project Gutenberg and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]