Head of a Boy (Gennaro Falcone?) 1635 - 1640

Aniello Falcone rendered this sanguine drawing, Head of a Boy, with delicate strokes and shading. The boy’s closed eyes suggest a state of repose, evoking the classical motif of sleep as a gateway to divine insight or, conversely, the oblivion of death. This symbolic duality has ancient roots. Consider the Hellenistic sculpture of the sleeping Eros, embodying both love and vulnerability. The closed eyes reappear in countless depictions of saints and martyrs, symbolizing spiritual transcendence. The very act of depicting closed eyes carries a powerful psychological charge, inviting us to contemplate mortality and the subconscious. It is a motif that resurfaces throughout art history, each time infused with new cultural and emotional resonance, yet forever tethered to our shared human experience of sleep, dreams, and the inevitable journey toward the unknown.