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Sleeping beauty or Dornröschen has been depicted by the French painter Victor Gabriel Gilbert. An artist renowned for his depictions of crowded market has taken a new subject for a change. It is a portrayal of the princess from the popular folklore The Sleeping Beauty.
| Painting Name | Sleeping Beauty |
| Painter Name | Victor Gabriel Gilbert |
| Size | 64.77 x 59.69 cm (25½" x 23½") |
| Technique | Oil |
| Material | Canvas |
| Current Location | Private collection |
Painter resembles the famous folklore by his imagination. The folklore in which the princess falls asleep for 100 years due to the curse of a bad angel princess’ siesta will be broken only when a prince will come and wakes her up. Though, the awakening took a little effort to the prince. There were some brambles over the princess, which were holding up the sunrays. The prince cut off the brambles thus allowing the sunrays to fall on the princess’s face. Thereafter, the princess woke up and the happy ending happens just like all the fairytales.
On the portrayal, painter hasn’t forgotten these details. On the right side, there are some flowery figures floating in mid-air representing the same brambles in the story. It simply suggests that the prince has yet to come.
To concentrate on the lovely face of the princess, artist has depicted the scene with some minimalistic way. The surrounding are almost monotonous with shades of orange, while the dress of the princess is dark, thus all the focus is deliberately drew to the beautiful face of the princess, who seems very much indulged into the sleep. Both hands’ crossed fingers into each other put a little sign that before falling asleep, the princess was a little bit worried as the gesture is a symbol of worry. The reason of the worry could be understood as she was going to sleep for 100 years. The length of the period is enough to worry about.
Artist’s homage to Charles Perrault’s classical fairy-tale acts well in term of acute depiction.
