Teasing a Sleeping Girl

Art Historical Context

Gaspare Traversi's *Teasing a Sleeping Girl* (ca. 1760), an oil on canvas measuring 34 1/8 x 42 3/8 inches, captures a mischievous moment in everyday life. This Neapolitan master's genre scene likely depicts men playfully engaging with a sleeping girl, evoking the intimate, voyeuristic humor common in 18th-century Italian painting. The large-scale canvas allows Traversi to showcase his skill in rendering fabrics, skin tones, and subtle expressions with rich, luminous oils. Traversi, active in mid-18th-century Naples, drew from Caravaggesque traditions, employing dramatic chiaroscuro—deep shadows contrasting bright highlights—to infuse domestic scenes with realism and theatricality. Working during the Rococo era's playful elegance, he elevated ordinary figures—girls, men, and women—in candid, unidealized poses, blending moral undertones with lighthearted ribaldry. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's European Paintings department through the 1971 bequest of Harry G. Sperling, this work highlights Traversi's brief but brilliant career (1732–1769). It invites viewers to ponder the era's fascination with human folly, offering a window into the vibrant street life of Naples amid aristocratic refinement.