Artwork
Young Girl Sleeping
Young Girl Sleeping is an oil painting by the Flemish Baroque painting artist Bernhard Keil. It dates from 1655 and is held in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts.
About this work
Technique & Style
Young Girl Sleeping is an oil painting executed on canvas, with the work measuring 48.3 cm in height by 100.3 cm in width. The horizontal format accommodates the genre scene of a sleeping child, painted in 1655. The painting is held in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts.
History & Provenance
The painting Young Girl Sleeping was created in 1655 by the Danish artist Bernhard Keil, as indicated by the dated inscription on the work.
By the early 21st century, the painting entered the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts, where it remains held. The work is catalogued with dimensions of 48.3 cm in height and 100.3 cm in width, executed in oil on canvas.
Legacy
Young Girl Sleeping by Bernhard Keil, painted in 1655, influenced later Dutch genre scenes through its intimate domestic subject and naturalistic rendering.
Young Girl Sleeping by Bernhard Keil, painted in 1655, influenced later Dutch genre scenes through its intimate domestic subject and naturalistic rendering. The work's quiet portrayal of childhood sleep became a compositional reference for 17th-century painters exploring familial tenderness. Its inclusion in the Detroit Institute of Arts collection preserved the painting within a major institutional context, ensuring continued scholarly attention to Keil's role in Dutch Baroque domestic painting.
The painting's technical execution in oil on canvas demonstrated compositional balance that informed contemporary approaches to interior genre scenes.
Overview
Bernhard Keil’s oil painting Young Girl Sleeping, executed in 1655, presents a quiet domestic scene. The work resides in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts and exemplifies the genre‑painting tradition of the mid‑seventeenth century, focusing on everyday life rather than grand historical narratives.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on a young child curled in slumber, her head supported by a modest pillow. A woven basket and a red cloth lie nearby, while the disheveled bedding in muted blues and whites frames her form. The serene expression and relaxed posture convey a moment of intimate, unguarded repose.
Artist & collection
