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Sleeping Ariadne

Sleeping Ariadne, housed in the Vatican Museums in Vatican City, is a Roman Hadrianic copy of a Hellenistic sculpture from the Pergamene school of the 2nd century BC. It is one of the most renowned sculptures of Antiquity. The reclining figure wears a chiton bound under her breasts, half lying and half sitting, with extended legs crossed at the calves, her head resting on her left arm and her right arm thrown over her head. Purchased in 1512 by Pope Julius II from Angelo Maffei, it was placed in the Belvedere Courtyard alongside the Laocoön and the Belvedere Apollo. Once identified as Cleopatra, the sculpture became a major model for the pose of sleep in later art.

Sleeping Ariadne reclining in white marble with draped fabric and one arm raised over her head.
Sleeping Ariadne, a reclining marble statue shown with her eyes closed and legs crossed.
April 2008 © · CC BY-SA 3.0
Sleeping Ariadne, a reclining white marble female sculpture with crossed legs and one arm raised over her face.
Sleeping Ariadne shown in a black-and-white photograph, reclining on a base with a draped figure pose.
1920 © Text: Ed.Ris. E.G.D.V.Roma · Public domain
Sleeping Ariadne, a white marble sculpture of a reclining woman with her head resting on her arm.
Sleeping Ariadne, shown reclining in white marble against a red wall.
December 2022 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Sleeping Ariadne marble sculpture reclining against a reddish wall with ornate columns nearby.
Sleeping Ariadne, shown reclining on an elaborately carved base in the Vatican Museums.
April 2008 © · CC BY-SA 3.0
Sleeping Ariadne reclining on her side with draped clothing and one arm raised above her head.
Sleeping Ariadne shown in a monochrome engraving, reclining with her head resting on one hand and one arm raised.
© Jean-Baptiste Poilly (French engraver, c.1669 - 1728) · Public domain

Identification

TitleSleeping Ariadne
Alternative namesVatican Ariadne
Italian titleL'Arianna addormentata
Polish titleŚpiąca Ariadna
Former nameCleopatra

Historical context

TypeRoman marble sculpture, a Hadrianic copy of a Hellenistic original
DateHadrianic era
Original date2nd century BC
Original schoolPergamene school

Creator

AttributionAttributed to the sphere of the Pergamene school

Discovery and provenance

Acquired fromAngelo Maffei
Associated works at installationLaocoön Group and Apollo of the Belvedere
Later locationsTransferred indoors in the mid-16th century to the adjoining Stanza della Cleopatra; moved to the Museo Pio-Clementino in 1770/1771; taken to Paris in 1798 during Napoleonic spoliations; returned to Rome after Napoleon's fall
Initial installationCortile del Belvedere of the Vatican Palace, on a Roman sarcophagus adapted as a fountain in a niche at the end of the uppermost terrace
Early ownershipPart of the antiquarian collection of Benedetto and Agostino Maffei before being acquired for Pope Julius II
Acquisition date1512
Acquired byPope Julius II
Discovery contextFound during vineyard work; no precise discovery details are known
Discovery date1512
Discovery placePalestrina, Lazio, probably while working in vineyards near ancient Praeneste

Physical characteristics

Arm decorationAn armilla or serpent-shaped bracelet around the upper left arm
Sarcophagus decorationSarcophagus with reliefs of the Gigantomachy
Support and settingPlaced on a Roman sarcophagus and fitted as a fountain in a niche or grotto
Condition and expressionThe pose has been described as collapsed or fainted, restless, uneasy, and caught between sleep and waking
DraperyWears a chiton tied under the breasts
PoseSemi-reclining, half sitting and half lying, with legs extended and crossed at the calves, head resting on her left arm, and right arm thrown over her head
Subject depictionAriadne, a sleeping reclining female figure
Height161 cm

Materials

Primary materialMarble

Technique

Setting functionFountain

Appearance

Iconographic identificationOriginally identified as Cleopatra because the bracelet on the upper left arm was mistaken for Cleopatra's asp; later identified as Ariadne, and also interpreted as a nymph or Venus
Narrative subjectAriadne asleep on Naxos after Theseus abandoned her

Iconography and meaning

InterpretationHellenistic innovation in the sleeping Ariadne motif, though the pose was already known from vase-painting
Literary allusionMay allude to Ariadne waking and threatening vengeance on Theseus, as in Catullus' Carmen 64
Modern interpretationsUlisse Aldrovandi thought the figure looked collapsed and fainted; Sheila McNally emphasized agitated uneasiness and torpor more oppressive than rest; Leonard Barkan interpreted the Cleopatra identification as a conflation of narratives
Art-historical contextThe motif was long known from vase-painting and may have reflected a now-lost literary source, according to T.B.L. Webster

Location and ownership

Current displayDisplayed in a niche, on a Roman sarcophagus, flanked by the Barberini Candelabra
Current locationVatican Museums, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican City

History and restoration

RestorationsRestored by Gaspare Sibilla, including the rock bed, right arm, and part of the face
Gallery and room namesStanza della Cleopatra; later called the Hall of Philosophers
InscriptionThe statue was associated with the pseudo-Latin epigram beginning 'HUIUS NYMPHA LOCI'; later scholarship attributed it to Giovanni Antonio Campano and placed it in the Renaissance period
Related setting designThe indoor niche setting was designed by Daniele da Volterra and supervised by Giorgio Vasari
Later setting detailsIn the 1530s the niche was redecorated as a grotto; the gallery setting used a shallow grotto niche and a landscape with Egyptian pyramids, palms, and the Sphinx
Napoleonic removal and returnRemoved to Paris as part of the Musée Napoléon spoils and later returned to Rome

Significance

NotabilityOne of the most renowned statues of antiquity
InfluenceInfluential as a model for the sleeping pose from Antiquity through the High Renaissance and later art; inspired Raphael, Marcantonio Raimondi, Michelangelo, and numerous Renaissance and later copies
Copies and variantsOther Roman copies include the Wilton House Ariadne and the Medici Ariadne; variants are in Madrid and the Louvre; two surviving statuettes attest to Roman reductions
Copying and receptionSelected by Primaticcio for plaster copies and bronze casts for Francis I at Fontainebleau; also copied by Nicolas Poussin, Pierre Julien, John Cheere, and for Thomas Jefferson
Cultural significanceA paradigm for sleeping nymph fountain sculptures and humanist recreations of loci amoeni through the 18th century

Other

Other notesThe Wilton House Ariadne is substantially unrestored; the Medici Ariadne was found in Rome and later seriously reworked in modern times according to Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway