Kirjusha

A young boy with tousled brown hair lies curled on his side asleep, one hand tucked under his cheek, dressed in a white ruffled shirt, red patterned vest and rolled grey trousers, feet bare. He rests atop a massive fold of cream-and-gold ornamented cloth lined with deep red velvet, with a small bird's nest and scattered twigs below him and a woven fence and dry leaves in the background.

Warm golds, russet reds and ivory dominate a tightly rendered, almost tapestry-like surface, with light concentrated on the sleeping face and hands while the surrounding fabric recedes into rich shadow. The meticulous, glossy finish and the outsized, theatrical drapery give an ordinary act of sleep a hushed, dreamlike weight.