The Monkey Antiquarian (1743): Artwork and History

The Monkey Antiquarian (1743) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Pierre-Louis de Surugue (French, 1716–1772) after Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin (French, 1699–1779).

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

The image of the antiquarian was perhaps somewhat less popular than that of the monkey painter, but these two prints were frequently reproduced. The caption here translates: In the obscure maze of ancient monuments Why, learned man, do you put yourself to so much trouble? For truly philosophical eyes, our century Provides enough to keep one busy.

Object facts

• Title: The Monkey Antiquarian
• Date: 1743
• Artist attribution: Pierre-Louis de Surugue (French, 1716–1772) after Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin (French, 1699–1779)
• Place of origin: France
• Medium: Etching with engraving in black on ivory laid paper
• Dimensions: Image: 27.6 × 22.8 cm (10 7/8 × 9 in.); Plate: 31.3 × 24.5 cm (12 3/8 × 9 11/16 in.); Sheet: 31.8 × 25 cm (12 9/16 × 9 7/8 in.)
• Type: Print
• Department: Prints and Drawings
• Reference number: 1958.552

Collection credit

Charles Greene Fund

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.