The Game of Leap Frog (1785): Art, History and Details

The Game of Leap Frog (1785) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Jean Guillaume Moitte (French, 1746–1810); Antoine-François Gérard (French, 1760–1843).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This decorative frieze follows the design of Moitte, an artist known for reliefs, especially in the beginning stages of his career. Some of Moitte's favorite subjects in this period were Bacchic scenes of antiquity. These images of revelry and sensuousness are based on classical narratives; however, there is no evidence that the ancients played games of leapfrog, and so the subject is Moitte's invention, with a contemporary game of leapfrog performed by the mythical cohorts of Bacchus. The design of the drapery is typical of Moitte, especially the keenly animated dress. Moitte's early technique emulated painting in bas-relief. The sculptor, Gérard, follows Moitte's design, using the unusual mediums of slate and wax. His technique is not entirely understood, however, it is thought to be a combination of modeling and carving.

Object facts

• Title: The Game of Leap Frog
• Date: 1785
• Creator attribution: Jean Guillaume Moitte (French, 1746–1810); Antoine-François Gérard (French, 1760–1843)
• Culture: France
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: wax on slate
• Dimensions: Framed: 30 x 53.5 x 4 cm (11 13/16 x 21 1/16 x 1 9/16 in.); Overall: 40.7 cm (16 in.)
• Collection: Sculpture
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1944.237

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Thirion, H. Les Adam et Clodion. Paris: A. Quantin, 1885.
• Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc. Furniture and Objects of Art, Part Two. 1944.
• Hawley, Henry H. Neo-Classicism: Style and Motif. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art; distributed by H.N. Abrams, New York, 1964.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.