Moreau Le Jeune, the brother of Louis-Gabriel, was the most gifted of the younger illustrators. His training began in an unusual way, for in 1758 he accompanied his teacher, the painter L.-J. Le Lorrain, to St Petersburg, and even taught at the Academy there. After returning to Paris in 1759, he entered the workshop of the engraver Ph. Le Bas, where he met Ch.-J. Eisen and Ch.-N. Cochin. In 1770 he would succeed the latter as 'Dessinateur des Menus Plaisirs'. After the Revolution he was a member of the art commission and taught, though no longer artistically active himself.
Moreau left an extensive oeuvre of drawings and prints, his illustrations forming the most important part. Their thematic variety, expressed in their interpretation of literary sources and illustration of official events and everyday situations, makes them an important cultural document for the second half of the century in France.
