Why it matters
Two red-capped mangabeys sit chained to an iron ring beneath an archway, with the port of Antwerp behind them. Bruegel's monkeys have been read as a 'small allegory' of foolish sinners imprisoned by their attitude to money: the left one for greed, the right one for prodigality.
Did you know?
- It was painted in 1562.
- The monkeys were probably brought to Antwerp by animal traders.
- Bruegel likely borrowed the motif from Gentile da Fabriano's Adoration of the Magi.
Based on the Wikipedia article Two Monkeys (Bruegel) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
