Lot 1499 Dα

Abraham Teniers was a younger brother of David Teniers II. Though he never achieved the artistic acclaim of the latter, his amusing singeries remain popular to this day. The motif originates from Pieter Brueghel the Elder, whose "Affenbild" in Berlin not only influenced Abraham Teniers, but also other painters such as Frans Francken II and David Teniers. Singeries are genre paintings in which monkeys imitate and parody human roles, thus holding up a mirror to the observer.