Young Man Asleep Before an Open Book

Additional texteDescription: A youth has fallen asleep while reading. Light from upper left causes shadows to be cast across his face and the folds of his mantle. Is the image admonitory, reminding us to make good use of our brief allotted time? Or simply a character study in light and shadow, like those produced in Rembrandt’s studio? In 17th-century Holland, the sleeper, head resting in one hand and the other concealed, was seen as an allegory of Sloth, one of the deadly sins.