Singerie: The Concert

In a leafy park setting a monkey in a pink tunic, ruffled collar and plumed hat conducts an unlikely orchestra: cats, dogs, goats, foxes and sheep dressed in human clothes, singing from sheet music or playing violins, cellos, lutes, flutes, bassoons and trumpets, while another monkey at the piano on the far left and a small dog plucking a zither complete the ensemble. Christophe Huet painted this singerie — the rococo fashion for scenes of monkeys aping human manners — about 1739 for the salon of the Château de La Norville, where it formed part of a decorative scheme of six overdoor paintings set into the boiserie, the curved outline of the panel echoing its architectural setting. The joke of the picture is that the concert is conducted with perfect seriousness, the animals’ absurd dignity rendered with the same care as any human fête galante. The painting is held in the National Gallery of Art, Washington.