2-744-155 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Game of Leap Frog, 1785. Three athletic men revel in a game of leapfrog with nymphs and satyrs in this sensual decorative frieze, designed by Moitte, but sculpted by his pupil Gérard. The careful modulation of coloured wax on the slate background creates a sense of depth, giving the bodies volume and the gowns translucency. The effect emulates carved gems, a type of relief sculpture, cherished since antiquity, in which the sculptor exposes naturally coloured layers in a semiprecious stone. Although the aesthetic style and Bacchic subject emulate antique art, there is no historical evidence that ancient Romans played leapfrog. The frieze is a Neoclassical invention that disguises an 18th-century game as a mythological bacchanal.