Monkey Preaching to Turkeys (1750–1800): Art, History and Details

Monkey Preaching to Turkeys (1750–1800) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Christophe Huet (French, 1700–1759).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This work belongs to a genre of imagery called singerie, which depicts monkeys dressed in human clothes parodying the actions of people. Here, a monkey preaches to a flock of turkeys from a wicker basket pulpit hanging from a tree. The turkeys, interpreted as symbols of foolishness, are deceived by the cunning primate in the disguise of a monk’s habit.

Object facts

• Title: Monkey Preaching to Turkeys
• Date: 1750–1800
• Creator attribution: Christophe Huet (French, 1700–1759)
• Culture: France
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: Gouache
• Dimensions: Sheet: 32.2 x 39.6 cm (12 11/16 x 15 9/16 in.)
• Collection: DR - French
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 2017.215

Collection credit

Bequest of Muriel Butkin

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.