English: Hector Leroux (1829-1900), Vestale endormie (Sleeping Vestal,) Paris Salon 1880, signed lower right, framed size 95 x 51cm. An oil on wood half-size study for this work is held at the Musée Fresch in Ajaccio, under the title La Vestale Licinia laissant éteindre le feu sacré.

Auctioned at Mallet Auction, Tokyo, Japan, February 07, 2014.

"[Sleeping Vestal] has a background of pain to the subject, notwithstanding the charm of the work itself. In this picture, a solitary vestal sits aslee within the precincts of the temple of the goddess. She is young and very fair, and we note that the sacred fire that burns in a brazier beside her is just sending up its last column of expiring smoke. Above the head of the slumberer, a threatening inscription on the wall tells of the doom that awaits her when she wakens. The coloring of this work, all in cool, pale, neutral tints, is very delicate and lovely...[A] pure and imaginative work." —Lucy H. Hooper, "The Paris Salon of 1880", The Art Journal, New Series, Vol. 6, 1880, p. 222.