Il sonno romano [Roman Sleep]

This painting originally measured 120 x 150cm but was cut down to reduce its height by Clerici himself, who subsequently donated it to the Accademia di San Luca (of which he was several times President). A second – colossal – version of this painting, made between 1983 and 1985 and entitled Grande Sonno Romano [Great Roman Sleep], is to be found at the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna in Rome. Its setting inspired by the Baths of Diocletian, this brooding subterranean scene – in which scattered Roman, Hellenistic and Baroque sculptures act out a silent theatrical game of references connecting sleep, ecstasy and death – provides a masterful summary of Clerici’s oeuvre and his relationship with Rome and the ancient world.
[A.Imbellone]