My strange dream seems to be speaking to me, but I don't understand.

I think it was two days ago, yes. I saw his face, it was him, but in the form of a painting, a canvas. But that canvas had a soul. He was beautiful as always; it was my ex-lover… be careful, I still love him. He was there in that form, but tears were flowing from his eyes, real tears flowing from the eyes of this painting. I could clearly distinguish the tears running down his face.
There was a mix of painting and reality, as if it wasn’t entirely real, yet I felt so much emotion. In this dream, I knew he wasn’t well and was sad, but since he was a painting, I was completely powerless…
I've been thinking about this dream for a while now... what could it be trying to tell me?
This dreamlike reverie… Thank you…

Hello, bright star!

Face :
The face lifts the veil on the person, on their authentic being; the face conveys what one feels, vibrates, and conceives; the face radiates the degree of light, like a door opening onto a passage. And it sometimes becomes the mask, due to inner discomfort, convention, or greed. And even then, the mask unmasks itself through distraction, shyness, or moral fatigue, no longer able to keep up the act.
In dreams, being the reflection of the soul: the beautiful rejuvenated face announces happiness, love, and serenity.

Table:
The subject of a painting: it gives the meaning of what we are to understand through the symbol we see in it. It is like the upcoming film of life.

Soul:
In dream life, we sometimes see the soul of those who visit us. Often in their physical form, but at other times we only feel the spirit that presents itself in our nocturnal life as a vibration. The souls we encounter reveal their degree of evolution through the light they emit to our sleeping eyes, which see other spirits thanks to the “psi” faculties we have in our sleep. For the night, we become, through the soul of the visitor, nothing but another communicating spirit.
These spirits truly come to us. Their attire and their degree of evolution indicate to us, through their color, their luminous path, or otherwise.
The vermilion color of their ethereal bodies, or their garments of dazzling white, or of a pale color, allow you to recognize the good spirits.
The vibrations of joy or anxiety you receive when seeing them are also an astonishing message that comes from a true silent communication.
Their joyful, sad, or threatening expressions are as many declarations.
Who is coming toward us? Good souls who love us, others who have come to bring us sad news. And the others, the least evolved, capable of malice, who can only engage in vengeance, jealousy, and threats (to say no more), have a disturbing appearance, and their bodies and clothing are of a dull or black color.
Nocturnal visitor, benevolent or malevolent spirit of the living and the dead, we are constantly surrounded.
White mages connect us to the communion of evolved souls. Black mages, to the less evolved ones.
Now, learn to protect yourself with white light, which has a particularly relaxing quality and leads to sleep. Darkness cannot penetrate white light, which is opaque, pure, and sparkling.

Tears:
Tears that flow down the cheeks in a dream: they are nothing but joy.
Who pour out on others: pain, suffering.

Summary:
As you say, as you felt in your dream: “you knew he wasn’t well and was sad.”
Through this dream, he came to share his sorrow with you.
Now it's up to you to figure out where you stand in relation to this, and to trust your feelings and inner intuition.
Everything you do must be done solely with yourself in mind.

Sincerely.

Thank you very much! A pleasure to read!