The Places of Monkeys in Watteau’s Arabesques: Ornamentation or Social Critique?

The study analyses representations of monkeys attributed to the French painter, Jean-Antoine Watteau, found on Parisian ceilings decorated during the first decades of the 18th century. We examine the birth and importance of the arabesque from the perspective of art history; however, it is primarily from the aspect of art theory that we approach the question of whether the monkey is only an exotic motif in the arabesques or a mirror to its contemporary society. We examine the arabesques, which affect the senses, from the perspective of the genre hierarchies established by 17th- and 18th-century art theoreticians. In the context of these hierarchies, it is concluded that the playful world of arabesques representing monkeys is a decorative motif.

Keywords: Jean-Antoine Watteau, arabesque, monkey, social critique