An ink portrait of a man who appears to be asleep or deeply resting — one of the most psychologically tender portraits in the collection. A man wearing a brimmed hat sits with his head tilted forward and to the right, his hand raised to support his cheek, his eyes closed or nearly so, his expression one of complete surrender to rest. The whole posture says: this person has let go.
The hat is described with Sidney's characteristic architectural confidence — a few marks establishing its form, the brim creating the strong diagonal that reads from across the room. Below the brim, the face is in shadow and repose: the eyes closed, the nose and the slightly parted lips visible, the skin of the cheek pressing against the raised hand.
The hand at the right side of the face is the composition's most specific and most tender element — described with individual finger marks, the hand cradling the face with a domestic intimacy. This is how people actually rest when they sleep sitting up, and Sidney observed and recorded it.
The jacket below is described with loose marks, the collar and lapel establishing the figure's social context: a man in a coat, resting somewhere — on a train, in a cafe, at a meeting. The warm cream paper gives the scene a gentle light.