“The Dream” was painted by French artist Henri Rousseau. This painting, along with many others, was painted during his last year of life; 1910. Rousseau loved painting jungles even though he never physically left his home in France. This painting can be found on the fifth floor of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City where it was donated in 1954 by Nelson A. Rockefeller. The  painting’s dimensions are 6’ 8” by 9’ 9” and it is made from oil on canvas.

On the left side of the painting lies a naked woman on an ordinary sofa. She has her arm out as though she is reaching out towards something. Surrounding her is a jungle filled with exotic plants, fruits, and animals and it seems as though the woman on the sofa does not belong there. While there is a lot going on in the painting, the two lions immediately grab the viewers’ attention. They are painted with light colors as opposed to the dark colors used to depict the person behind them. The lions are relatively small and don’t appear to be so scary. One lion is staring directly at the viewer and looks rather afraid. His eyes are big and his head is slightly lower than his back, revealing his mane. The top of his back pokes through the high grass and his body is directed towards the woman but his head is turned to face the viewer. While lions are often used to represent dominance, this lion appears to be lost, worried or scared. The other lion has no mane- she is a lioness and she is staring at the woman. The artist chooses not to paint their entire bodies, rather just their heads sticking out through the plants, focusing on their facial expressions. Rousseau is able to convey feelings of fear, distress and entrapment using lions.