A Sleeping Leopard

1791

George Stubbs

(British, 1724–1806)

Culture

England, 18th century

Medium

Soft-ground etching with roulette work

Measurements

Image and Plate: 18 x 23.7 cm (7 1/16 x 9 5/16 in.); Sheet: 18.4 x 24 cm (7 1/4 x 9 7/16 in.)

Credit Line

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1980.90

Catalogue raisonné

Taylor 18; Lennox-Boyd, Dixon, & Clayton 91

State

II/II

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

George Stubbs carefully studied the different animals he depicted and even published a book on the anatomy of the horse.

Description

A famed animal painter, George Stubbs studied anatomy and likely had access to one of London’s various menageries, where he could view animals kept as curiosities and brought to England from across the globe. Here, Stubbs used innovative printmaking techniques to capture the roughness of the tree bark, the rocky surface of the ground, and the softness of the leopard’s fur. Stubbs was one of the earliest artists to experiment with soft-ground etching, which allowed him to re-create texture by transferring his image onto a printing plate through an actual drawing.