It's Greek to Me

Apollonius of Rhodes (3rd century BC) is but one of the many poets who tell how Selene, the Titian godess of the Moon, loved the mortal shepard, Endymion, so much that she convinced her cousin, Zeus, to grant him eternal youth so that he would never leave her. Additionally, she loved how Endymion looked when he was asleep, she convinced Zeus to leave him that way, forever young... and asleep. As with many myths, such stories can be inspirational fodder for an artist's vision. You can see one such version in Anne-Louis Girodet's 1791 painting, The Sleep of Endymion, found in the Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Anne-Louis Girodet's 1791 painting, The Sleep of Endymion

Well, Lloyd Mifflin was struck with the same line of inspiration when he tried his hand at the same subject in 1872—and 20 years later, altering it a bit. As mentioned a few times before, Lloyd Mifflin often created photographs as an aid in his painting. I've secluded the subject of the painting and flipped it to better compare it to his photographic study. Note, too, how Lloyd represents Selene as the actual moon in a partial phase which suggests, to me, at least, the blade of a scythe.

Lloyd Mifflin's 1872 version of the same subject matter

I have to mention here, too, that the Columbia sisters, the Minichs, had hundreds of similar glass plate negatives of 'nude figures' ruined by having the emulsion scraped from the glass and the remaining glass plates installed as windows for a greenhouse. The sisters were also known to have cut up larger Lloyd Mifflin paintings so as to hand them out as rewards for the work of their better students. Of course, they did manage to secure the safety of many paintings and negatives, but I still find it difficult to forgive them for their naive and philistine actions.

On the left, is a flipped detail of Lloyd's painting. On the right, the photographic study Lloyd had his brother take as a guide for his painting.