The Palace of Sleep

The Palace of Sleep opens through two gates: horn admits true dreams, while ivory releases deceptive ones. The chapter explains the animals above the gates as clues to those materials. Grotesque beings and castles in clouds mark illusion; darker apparitions carry the author's melancholy account of waking reality.

The surrounding text identifies Diana with the moon and the winged, star-clad figure of Night holding Sleep and Death. In the central niche, Sleep carries poppies and a drowsing wand beneath a bat-winged shelter. The final plate is therefore an intricate map of symbols, closing the book with the uncertain passage between dream, truth and imagination.

Historical context is adapted from the accompanying commentary by Antoine de La Barre de Beaumarchais. Its interpretations reflect the period in which the book was published.

This edition follows plate 60 in Le Temple des Muses. The complete historical page and its explanatory text remain available in the source record. Source attribution: Bernard Picart and other engravers, Le Temple des Muses (1749 edition). Museum date: 1749 (publication). Source medium: Engraving, inner pictorial scene. Source portfolio: Le Temple des Muses, plate 60.

The inner illustration has been straightened and extracted from its surrounding engraved frame, caption and paper. The comparison shows that extracted engraving beside Surrealium's contemporary colour interpretation.

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