Canovas sleeping Endymion bears remarkable resemblance to Anne-Louis Girodets painting (which can be viewed in gallery n° 3 of BOYS IN ART) but also to the famous Barberine Faune.Endymion is smiling during his sleep, kissed with a beam of the moon goddess Selene who has fallen in love with the boy. To watch him for eternity and to caress him whenever she wanted to, she makes him immortal and forever young - by placing him in a state of endless sleep !