Forty Winks by Adriano Bonifazi

ADRIANO BONIFAZI (ITALIAN, 1858–1914)
Forty Winks, 1885
Oil on canvas
26 7/8 × 17 7/8 in. (68.3 × 45.4 cm)
Frame: 23 1/4 × 31 1/2 in. (59.1 × 80 cm)

Signed lower right “Bonifazi Napoli 1885”

Adriano Bonifazi was an Italian painter working within the late 19th-century academic and genre painting traditions, producing finely observed scenes of everyday life. His work reflects a broader European interest in intimate domestic narratives, often focusing on humble interiors and the quiet emotional bonds of family life. Trained in Italy, Bonifazi combined careful draftsmanship with a warm, naturalistic palette, aligning his work with the enduring appeal of anecdotal realism.

In Forty Winks, Bonifazi presents a tender domestic moment: a weary grandmother seated beside a cradle, overcome by sleep while her grandchild rests nearby. The rustic interior—brick floor, hearth, and simple furnishings—grounds the scene in working-class life, while the soft illumination from the hearth and doorway heightens its emotional warmth. Bonifazi’s handling of light and texture, from the rough plaster walls to the woven cradle, reinforces the sense of quiet stillness, transforming an ordinary moment into a poignant meditation on maternal devotion and fatigue.