Animal Studies (Donkey, Cats, Monkeys, Dogs)

Both oak panels (GG 6985 und GG 6988), with their highly lively and spontaneous animal studies drawn from nature, did not become museum property until 1932. The dating derives from the link to the artist’s “Paradise Landscape” in The Hague (Mauritshuis) and the “Allegory of the Face” in the Prado of 1617, in which Brueghel used similar motifs of monkeys. The crouching cat about to pounce to the right can be found in the “Allegory of Hearing” in Madrid. Breughel made use of the dog studies in his Diana pictures of the early 1620s.