The Monkey Who Had Seen the World | |
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Artist | Edwin Landseer |
Year | 1827 |
Type | Oil on panel, genre painting |
Dimensions | 47 cm× 54.6 cm(19 in× 21.5 in) |
Location | Guildhall Art Gallery , London |
The Monkey Who Had Seen the World is an 1827 genre painting by the British artist Edwin Landseer. It was inspired by a fable by the Eighteenth Century English written John Gay. It was one of a number of subjects by Landseer featuring anthropomorphic monkeys to illustrate human traits such as cunning, flattery and cruelty. He portrays the well-travelled in the costume of a roccoco era dandy. [1]
The painting was displayed at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition of 1827 at Somerset House in London, where it was generally praised by critics. [2] Today it is in the collection of the Guildhall Art Gallery in the City of London. [3]