The Interrupted Sleep

The Interrupted Sleep (1750), at the Metropolitan Museum, depicts a young woman dozing in a pastoral setting, startled awake by an unseen presence. The subject combines the Rococo fascination with sleep as a state of vulnerability — unconsciousness as invitation to the voyeuristic gaze — with Boucher's mastery of decorative landscape. The painting's intimate scale and warm palette make it an exemplary piece of Rococo cabinet painting, designed for private enjoyment in the intimate spaces of an aristocratic interior.

The sleeping figure is rendered with Boucher's characteristic pearly flesh tones and idealized proportions. The surrounding pastoral landscape serves as a decorative frame, with soft greens and blues complementing the warm pink tones of the figure.