A Monkey

A Monkey from 1799 by George Stubbs is one of his last paintings, produced when the artist was seventy-five and near the end of a career that had expanded from equestrian portraiture to encompass the full range of animal life. The monkey subject reflects the growing scientific and popular interest in primates during the Enlightenment, as comparisons between human and simian anatomy raised unsettling questions about human uniqueness. Stubbs brought to the monkey the same methodical observation he applied to horses, noting the proportions and muscular structure of a species whose superficial similarity to humans gave it particular anatomical interest. The work is held at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. As a valedictory statement about the range of his interests, the monkey portrait extends his lifelong project of systematic animal observation to the species closest to mankind.

The monkey is rendered with careful anatomical observation, Stubbs's precise technique capturing the primate's distinctive features and posture.