The Monkey and the Cat

About the Artwork

This picture interprets one of Aesop’s ancient Greek fables (or probably the more contemporary interpretation by Jean de la Fontaine, even more famous at the time), which warns of the dangers of flattery. A monkey sweet-talks a cat into pulling scalding chestnuts out of the fire. The cat finishes the risky and painful task to discover that the monkey has already gobbled up nearly all of them.

Inscriptions

Signed lower left: "Abraham Hondius"

Provenance

1979-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio 1974-1979: The Butkin Foundation, Cleveland, OH, by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art 1 c. 1968-1974: Noah Butkin [1918-1980], Cleveland, OH, probably by exchange to The Butkin Foundation Until c. 1968: (Judson Art Galleries, Kenilworth, IL, sold to Noah Butkin) Probably until the mid-1960s: (Central Picture Galleries, New York, sold to Judson Art Galleries)1

Exhibition history

Year in Review: 1979. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 13-March 9, 1980). A Cleveland Bestiary. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 15-December 16, 1981).

Quick Overview

Artist: Abraham Hondius (Dutch, c. 1625–1695)
Date: probably 1670s
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: Framed: 80 x 93.5 x 6 cm (31 1/2 x 36 13/16 x 2 3/8 in.); Unframed: 62.2 x 73.7 cm (24 1/2 x 29 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: European Painting and Sculpture
Credit line: Gift of The Butkin Foundation
Accession no.: 1979.82

More by Abraham Hondius in museum collections

Boar Hunt
Abraham Hondius
c. 1672 · Drawing
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of ArtAT-00011619

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.