A report from The Huffington Post examines the history of sleep in art.

Sandro Botticelli, Henri Rousseau, Vincent van Gogh, Francisco de Goya, Giorgione. Aside from being some of the most imaginative and renowned makers in the history of art, these old masters share a common interest: depicting the mysterious state of sleep.

Meir Kryger is a professor at Yale School of Medicine and a sleep expert who has been obsessed with slumber since he can remember. “I’ve been studying sleep for God knows how many years,” Kryger explained to The Huffington Post. “I’ve alway been interested in it.”

Kryger’s research primarily revolves around the mechanics, functions and pathology of sleep — for example, analyzing breathing patterns during sleep and examining the relationship between heart failure and sleep respiration. However, there are certain questions about the mysteries of sleep that all the scientific research in the world cannot begin to answer. Questions like: Why do we sleep? Why do we dream?

View the full story at www.huffingtonpost.com