Leighton has arranged matters in such a way that, although clothed, his somnolent girl's many charms are alluringly displayed for the delectation of the viewer – who is implicitly put in the position of a voyeur...

[2] The draped figure looks the least lifelike, demonstrating Leighton's claimed need to draw from a naked model to achieve a fidelity to nature.

[4] The realism of the transparent material worn by the sleeping woman, the stunningly rich colours and the perfectly recreated marble surround are characteristic of Leighton's work, as is his use of natural light.

Andrew Lloyd Webber saw it soon afterwards in a shop on the Kings Road, but his grandmother refused to lend him the £50 asking price, stating: "I will not have Victorian junk in my flat".

Since then, the painting has been loaned to important museums around the world including the Museo del Prado in Madrid in 2008, the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart in Germany in 2009, and the Frick Collection in New York City in 2015.

[4][9][10] In 2015 an original pencil and chalk study for the painting – the model's head – was found on the back of a bedroom door in the mansion inherited by Bamber Gascoigne after the death of his great aunt Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe.

[12][13] While the body of the woman remains a mystery, there is speculation that the face is that of either of Leighton's two favourite models in the 1890s, Dorothy Dene[14][15] or Mary Lloyd.

[18] She came to London and established a highly successful career as an artist's model, posing only for the head and hands, and not nude – an important distinction.