Endymion

Endymion, undated and in Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, draws on the Greek myth of the beautiful shepherd boy whom Selene, goddess of the moon, fell in love with and caused to sleep eternally so she could visit him each night. The subject was popular among Victorian painters as a vehicle for exploring beauty, desire, and the relationship between the mortal and divine. Rivière's treatment would have emphasized the sleeping Endymion's perfect stillness — an opportunity to paint the male nude or near-nude with the authority he brought to all figure subjects — and the moonlit landscape setting with its distinctive cool, silver light.

The moonlit setting presented Rivière with an unusual chromatic challenge — the cool, diffuse quality of night light quite different from the warm directional illumination of his typical genre scenes. Silver greys, pale blues, and the warm flesh tones of the sleeping figure would have been carefully balanced to preserve both naturalism and mythological atmosphere.