Today we went to the Galleria Borghese, which is filled with amazing pieces of art by many incredible artists. Our job was to pick one piece out of hundreds of fantastic pieces and give a bit of a description of it.
The piece I chose is called Il Sonne (which means The Sleep) by Alessandro Algardi. Made of black shiny marble, it depicts a young child, presumably a boy, sleeping on a cloth of some sort. He seems to be wearing a cape as well, which is decorated with squares with rounded edges. He has his right arm raised above his head, though he's not resting on it, and his left arm is down by his side. By his left shoulder, there is a strange looking animal curled up sleeping next to him: it is either a small fox or a very large rat. His hair is also decorated with flowers. Laying between his left arm and side are a few bottles, perhaps wine jugs. It looks like the tops of the bottles are decorated with the same flowers that are in his hair.
What's most interesting to me is his position. It does not seem comfortable or natural; rather, it seems like he's fallen and won't get up again. Although sonne means sleep, isn't death the ultimate sleep?
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