Les voleurs et l’âne (IThe Thieves and the Donkey)

The painting belongs to Paul Cézanne's youthful phase: it was created circa 1870, most likely in Aix-en-Provence.

If the title of the piece draws inspiration from La Fontaine's fable, the subject draws instead from The Metamorphoses of Apuleius. The scene depicts the moment when Lucio, having been transformed into a donkey, is freed by his captors through the intervention of Fotis' boyfriend. Fotis is a young maid who, throughout the events of the story, attempts to return the boy to his human form. The scene takes place on a cliff overlooking the sea: the donkey stands alone at the center, while a young man is seen in the right foreground. His identity is not known; he is perhaps a farmer or hunter. On the left, several men can be seen fighting. In the background, past the figure of the donkey, a pair of characters, one of whom is smoking quietly, absent-mindedly watches the events unfolding. Some identify the group on the left as thieves, while others consider the foreground figure to be Lucio's savior. In many ways, the iconography is still difficult to understand.