| The Sleeping Model | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | William Powell Frith |
| Year | 1853 |
| Type | Oil on canvas, genre painting |
| Dimensions | 63.2 cm× 72.8 cm(24.9 in× 28.7 in) |
| Location | Royal Academy of Arts, London |
The Sleeping Model is an oil on canvas genre painting by the British artist William Powell Frith, from 1853. [1]
It shows a scene in the artist's own studio as he tries to paint a model who has fallen asleep in her chair. It features a self-portrait of himself as he doggedly continues to paint the young woman, an orange seller, smiling and awake. Frith had a great deal of trouble persuading the woman who he encountered in the street to pose for him, partly due to the fact that she was a Catholic. Having eventually coaxed her to sit, she then fell asleep while he was working. [2] The incident led Frith to produce this work inspired by the incident. [3] When Frith was elected to be a full member of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1853 he presented this as his diploma work. It remains in the collection of the Royal Academy today. [4]