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The Monkey and the Cat
Abraham Hondiusprobably 1670s
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
This picture interprets one of Aesop’s ancient Greek fables (or probably the more contemporary interpretation by Jean de la Fontaine, even more famous at the time), which warns of the dangers of flattery. A monkey sweet-talks a cat into pulling scalding chestnuts out of the fire. The cat finishes the risky and painful task to discover that the monkey has already gobbled up nearly all of them.
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Details
- Title: The Monkey and the Cat
- Creator: Abraham Hondius (Dutch, c. 1625-1695)
- Date Created: probably 1670s
- Physical Dimensions: Framed: 80 x 93.5 x 6 cm (31 1/2 x 36 13/16 x 2 3/8 in.); Unframed: 62.2 x 73.7 cm (24 1/2 x 29 in.)
- Provenance: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, The Butkin Foundation, Cleveland, OH, by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art 1, Noah Butkin [1918-1980], Cleveland, OH, probably by exchange to The Butkin Foundation, (Judson Art Galleries, Kenilworth, IL, sold to Noah Butkin), (Central Picture Galleries, New York, sold to Judson Art Galleries)1
- Type: Painting
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1979.82
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Inscriptions: Signed lower left: "Abraham Hondius"
- Department: European Painting and Sculpture
- Culture: Netherlands, 17th century
- Credit Line: Gift of The Butkin Foundation
- Collection: P - Netherlandish-Dutch
- Accession Number: 1979.82
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