Singerie

Singerie is the name given to a visual arts genre depicting monkeys imitating human behavior, often fashionably attired, intended as a diverting sight, using satire.

The practice can be traced as far back as Ancient Egypt; Cyril Aldred detected a love of singerie that he found characteristic of the late Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt;[1] Throughout the medieval period in Europe, monkeys were seen "as a symbol of downgraded humanity",[2] and were used to mimic man and his foibles, often appearing in the margins of illuminated manuscripts.

Later in the 17th century artists like Nicolaes van Verendael, principally known as a painter of flower still lifes started to paint ‘monkey scenes’ as well.

French decorator and designer Jean Berain the Elder included dressed figures of monkeys in many wall decorations, the great royal ébéniste André Charles Boulle used them in his work[6] and Watteau painted The Monkey Sculptor, a critique of art and artists' habit of "aping" nature.

Singeries regained popularity in the 19th century and artists then successful in this genre included Zacharie Noterman, Emmanuel Noterman, Charles Verlat, Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, Edmund Bristow, Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps, Charles Monginot [fr] and Paul Friedrich Meyerheim.