Cleveland Museum of Art
A Eunuch's Dream
Jean Lecomte du Nouÿ
- Date
- 1874
- Medium
- oil on wood
- Culture
- France, 19th century
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
This painting, inspired by Charles Montesquieu's Persian Letters (published in 1721), depicts a eunuch who wanted to marry a harem slave. He experienced a vision of her while smoking his opium pipe, but her little companion holding a knife dripping with blood reminds us that the eunuch's anatomy precludes the fulfillment of his dream. The outline of a hand next to the signature is a khamsa, a symbol used to ward off evil. Much of Jean Lecomte du Nouÿ's artwork was inspired by travelling to Egypt as a young man.
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