Endymion’s Moonbath: Art and Science in Girodet’s Early Masterpiece

This study interprets the natural ‘effects’ contained in Girodet’s ‘Sleep of Endymion’ against the background of certain scientific discoveries made during the latter part of the eighteenth century. French atmospheric investigations confirmed the existence of a transient ocean of air subject to tides because of lunar influence. Aerial perturbations produced light-related phenomena such as electricity (Endymion’s‘charged’ form). phosphorescence (his body glowing in the dark) and caloric (a metaphor for the erotic heat of passion). Alterations in the moon’s phases were thought to bring about palpable changes in the weather. Moreover, not only does the moon shine by reflected light but the earth, in turn, illuminates the moon’s surface—a convenient image for the reciprocity of Endymion’s and Diana’s ardor. Further, my argument suggests that the view from above-so conspicuous in the later ‘Ossian’—is already presaged here. Ultimately, certain overriding Romantic themes are seen as implicit in the painting’s imagery: the doctrine of elective affinity, the chemical notion of dissolving, the aesthetic concepts of ekstasis and stillness, and the fecund identification of love with death.