Artists have been putting monkeys in human clothes, jobs, homes, and social situations for centuries, and the results can be funny, unsettling, or surprisingly familiar. The tradition is known as singerie, a French term for art that shows monkeys imitating human behavior. It became especially popular in Europe from the 16th century onward, where artists used these scenes to poke fun at everything from education and medicine to drinking, fashion, and the art world itself. Looking at them today, part of the fun is seeing how much human nonsense apparently works just as well when monkeys take our place. Here are 24 wonderfully strange examples.
Backgammon-Playing Baboons
These 17th-century baboons seem completely absorbed in their backgammon match, right down to the drinks, scattered cards, and serious faces around the table.
Allegory of Tulip Mania
Jan Brueghel the Younger turned the chaos of Tulip Mania into a whole monkey society, with the animals buying, selling, celebrating, and generally getting swept up in the craze.
Who Do We Look Like?
One monkey carefully cuts a silhouette while another compares the finished portrait, making the joke in the title pretty hard to miss.
Monkeys in School
David Teniers the Younger imagines a classroom full of monkeys reading, studying, misbehaving, and apparently experiencing school much like humans do.
The Monkey Sculptor
Antoine Watteau gives us a monkey sculptor hammering away at a classical bust with the confidence of an artist who clearly believes he knows what he is doing.
The Smoking Monkeys
Dressed in fashionable clothes and gathered around a table, these pipe-smoking monkeys could almost pass for a rather serious 17th-century social club.
Singerie of a Barbershop
This busy barbershop scene replaces every barber and customer with monkeys, turning an ordinary grooming routine into wonderfully chaotic satire.
Japanese-Style Monkey With a Fan
With its black hat, bright red robe, fan, and flowers, this 19th-century monkey looks dressed for an occasion far more formal than most of us attend.
Monkey Doctor
Pieter van der Borcht’s supposed doctor enthusiastically pitches his questionable cure while the surrounding monkeys watch the demonstration like a very trusting audience.
The Sleeping Pedlar Robbed by Monkeys
While the exhausted pedlar sleeps, a whole troop of monkeys raids his belongings with the kind of teamwork that makes his situation look increasingly hopeless.
Tabakskollegium
Abraham Teniers places his elegantly dressed monkeys around a table with pipes and drink, giving their little gathering all the seriousness of a proper gentlemen’s club.
Monkeys in School
The classroom is packed with little jokes, from monkeys reading books to others being disciplined, making this a surprisingly detailed parody of everyday education.
Monkey on His Sickbed
A bedridden monkey receives visitors and medical attention while another sits nearby with a bowl, creating an oddly convincing little scene of domestic concern.
The Monkey Painter
Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps gives the artist’s studio to a monkey holding a palette and brush, poking fun at the self-importance surrounding the profession.
The Travelled Monkey
Dressed like a well-to-do gentleman with a cane and formal coat, this monkey addresses his wilder companions as though returning from some grand tour abroad.
The Concert of Cats
The monkey musicians have apparently recruited cats and an owl into their performance, resulting in a concert that looks entertaining even before anyone makes a sound.
A Monkey Physician Examining a Cat
The doctor takes his work very seriously as he inspects a remarkably patient cat, while several other animals seem to wait their turn nearby.
Singerie With Smoking Pipe
Here the monkey sits with his pipe and drink while an owl keeps him company, creating the strange impression of two old friends relaxing after dinner.
We Drink All Three
Three glasses are raised together in this 1836 scene, proving that even monkeys apparently understood the appeal of a group toast.
For What Was I Created?
William Holbrook Beard gives his jester-like monkey a surprisingly melancholy pose, sitting alone on a ledge while a small dog wanders below.
The Laundry
Pieter van der Borcht fills this laundry room with monkeys washing, ironing, folding, and fussing over clothes like an especially busy 16th-century household.
Monkey Soldiers Taking a Cat Prisoner
Sebastian Vrancx turns military life into absurd theater here, with armed monkeys escorting a captured cat while others drink, gamble, and crowd around the barracks.
Two Monkeys Playing Backgammon
These two players seem completely locked into their backgammon game, with one casually raising a glass while the other studies the board.
Last Performance
Gabriel von Max gives this group of dressed-up monkeys the uneasy atmosphere of performers waiting backstage, their expressions making the scene feel strangely human.
