Just monkeying about in the Dutch Golden Age, with cats in a barbershop, as a sculptor, and the amazing paintings of Gabriel von Max.
monkey
In some of the earliest European paintings, the Fall of Man, the fable of the cat’s paw, in Vanitas paintings, and for their mischief and mayhem.
Landseer paints a La Fontaine fable; Bonnard, Corinth, and others complete the history.
For the last 3,500, monkeys have often appeared in European paintings. Here’s a brief survey, with examples from Botticelli, Brueghels, Clara Peeters, Watteau, and others.
The Eclectic Light Company 