Frans Snyders, Two Monkeys Stealing Fruit from a Basket, n.d.
From the Louvre:
The “thieving monkey” theme was greatly appreciated by the public, and was used time and again by the painter. The monkey (sometimes linked to the image of the devil) had symbolized the sinner since the Middle Ages - a greedy, lecherous creature, driven by his senses only. During the sixteenth and (especially) seventeenth centuries it came to incarnate stupidity (reflected by popular expressions such as “monkeying about”). These two little monkeys’ attitude toward the food indicates their barbarism - they are guided by animal instinct and desire. This work is a true vanitas painting: a splendid still life with peaches, apples, strawberries, grapes, plums, and half-eaten melon, which are delightfully appetizing yet bound to perish. So this little scene, which no doubt takes place in a kitchen, is also a lesson illustrating the risks of poor household management based on the satisfaction of the senses alone.