Sleeping Leopard

Sleeping Leopard from 1777 by George Stubbs is one of his studies of exotic animals made from observations at private menageries and travelling exhibitions that brought specimens of African and Asian wildlife to Georgian England. The leopard subject demonstrates Stubbs extending his anatomical methodology beyond familiar domestic species to the exotic cats that fascinated Enlightenment naturalists. He brought to the leopard the same methodical observation he had applied to horses—noting the musculature beneath the coat, the proportions of skull and limb, the distinctive spotted pattern that made the animal both beautiful and dangerous. The sleeping pose captures the cat in relaxation rather than action, the anatomical structure visible beneath the heavy coat. The work is held at the Yale Center for British Art.

The leopard's spotted coat and relaxed posture are rendered with careful observation, demonstrating Stubbs's ability to depict exotic species with anatomical accuracy.