A Sleeping Leopard
1791
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1791
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
You see a leopard curled up asleep on a rocky ledge, its spotted fur glowing in dappled sunlight. Stubbs painted animals with the same care doctors gave human bodies—he even dissected them to learn their muscles and bones. That’s why the leopard’s ribs rise and fall under its fur like real breath. The rough tree bark and jagged rocks feel almost touchable because Stubbs used a printmaking trick called soft-ground etching, pressing textures right onto the plate. To see how he made other animals feel alive, look up the technique of soft-ground etching.
