Germany's Day of Sleep coincides this year with the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. We look at the sleep habits of famous artists and intellectuals, from da Vinci to Einstein.
Image: Imago/Cinema Publishers Collection
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Sleep in art
From sleeping beauties to sleeping beagles, many artists have over the centuries been inspired by the period during which we restore our bodies.
Image: Wikipedia/Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Joseph and Potiphar's Wife by Rembrandt
In this 1643 illustration, Dutch baroque artist Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) painted a biblical scene known as Joseph and Potiphar's Wife. The wife of Potiphar, an Egyptian official, tries to seduce Joseph, their slave turned personal guard. Lying in bed half naked, she tugs at Joseph's sleeve — but he's clearly more than reluctant.
Image: Wikipedia/Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Mette Asleep on a Sofa, by Paul Gauguin
The above young woman resting on a recamier — a sofa without a backrest — is Mette-Sophie Gad. French painter Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) captured his wife in her nightgown in 1875.
Image: Wikipedia/The Athenaeum
A Girl Asleep, by Jan Vermeer
The 1657 oil painting A Girl Asleep by Jan Vermeer (1632-1675), a renowned Dutch painter, shows a woman sitting at a table, eyes closed, head in hand. She was long presumed to be a maid, but her high-quality clothing suggests that she is in fact the artist's wife.
Image: wikipedia/Metropolitan Museum of Art
A Bedroom, by William Turner
In a series of paintings in 1827, British artist Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) portrayed bedrooms at Petworth, the country home of a wealthy patron. A Bedroom gives the viewer a glimpse into an intimate, private setting.
Image: wikipedia/The Yorck Project
The Dream, by Pablo Picasso
Spain's Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) painted his lover Marie-Therese Walter in 1932. Picasso was 22 at the time, and is said to have painted the colorful portrait of the young woman asleep in a chair in just one afternoon.
Image: flickr/Fort Greene Focus
Sleeping Snoopy, by Charles M. Schulz
US cartoonist Charles M. Schulz (1922-2000) has portrayed Snoopy, the famous beagle in the Peanuts series, countless times asleep. Sometimes he sleeps sitting up, or lying on his belly on the ground — or, typically, the dog is on his back on the roof of his famous red dog house.
Image: Imago/Cinema Publishers Collection
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Fast asleep in one's own bed, a nap on the couch or a quick catnap on the subway: for most people, sleep has positive connotations of rest, recovery and sweet dreams.
Not everyone sleeps easily and well, however.
One out of four Germans suffers from sleeping disorders, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany's public health institute.
The German Day of Sleep, set on June 21, is a day to underline the importance of sleep and discuss ways to tackle sleep disorders.
Sleepless, over-sleepers or people sleeping in small fits and bursts: Many famous painters, writers or musicians are renowned for their extreme sleep habits.
German writer Goethe is perhaps best-known for his two-part tragic drama, FaustImage: Imago/United Archives International
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Albert Einstein, for instance, were both accustomed to sleeping for 10 hours every night.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart allegedly needed half that amount of sleep: He'd be involved with music for 19 hours a day, and would sleep for exactly five hours every night, from 1 to 6 a.m.
Leonardo da Vinci apparently had even more extravagant habits. The Italian Renaissance artist is said to have slept for 20 minutes every four hours.
French writer Voltaire also only slept for four hours, and compensated his lack of sleep with up to 40 cups of coffee a day.
Sigmund Freud, who slept six hours every night, turned to cigarettes and cocaine to keep his mind alert through the day.
Like Goethe, Einstein slept long hoursImage: Imago/UIG
Between life and death
Sleep is a part of human existence and has always influenced people's lives: It can be inspiring and restful, or zap a person's energy and health.
Greek philosopher Heraclitus described sleep as the intermediate phase between life and death.
Sleep goes hand in hand with a lack of control and emergence of the subconscious — in medieval times, people feared sleep to a certain extent as they often died in their sleep due to respiratory problems caused by smoke inhalation from cooking, heating and working. To try to avoid going to bed and not waking up again, they would sleep in an upright position.
Nowadays, that sleeping position is usually reserved for commuters on trains, buses and subways.
