The Monkey and the Cat
Abraham Hondius (Dutch, c. 1625–1695)
probably 1670s
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
unframed: 62.2 × 73.7 cm · framed: 80 × 93.5 × 6 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
European Painting and Sculpture
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of The Butkin Foundation
Accession Number
1979.82
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
male
About this artwork
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.