Benedetto Gennari, Guercino’s nephew and collaborator, painted the Saint John the Baptist Sleepingbetween 1657 and 1658, a faithful reworking of the master's work, Endymion Sleeping. Guercino’s original was lost but a copy of it is preserved at the Uffizi Gallery. According to the Greek myth, the goddess Diana fell in love with the shepherd Endymion and, in order not to lose him, froze him in a sleep of eternal youth. The iconography of Endymion is adapted here by Benedetto Gennari and transformed into Saint John the Baptist, the hermit saint: the painter removed the moon in the background from the model and transformed Endymion's cane into a cross, with the seal “Ecce Agnus Dei” (Here is the Lamb of God)
Like the Sibyl in the first room, the painting bears witness to a common practice in Guercino’s studio: the copying and adaptation of the master’s original works, the figurative models of which could be reused for new compositions and subjects. In this way, his collaborators could quickly meet the demands of clients who wanted works done in the manner of Guercino but at more affordable prices.