Two Monkeys Smoking c. 17th century

Curator: The etching before us, "Two Monkeys Smoking," attributed to Coryn Boel, presents a curious scene. I find it unsettling. There's a melancholy air. Editor: Melancholy, perhaps, but also quite comical. Look at the textures achieved through etching—the fur, the smoke, even the sheen on that little glass. It's about the craft of image making, not just symbolism. Curator: But consider the visual vocabulary! Monkeys, historically stand-ins for foolishness, indulging in tobacco—a commentary on human vice, surely. The attire itself speaks volumes. Editor: Yes, but whose vices? Boel came from a family of engravers and focused on prints. The labor required to produce these images, the access to materials, the social conditions allowing for this... Curator: I see it as mirroring human society through animal allegory—a time-honored tradition of illustrating our frailties. Editor: And I see an object of consumption, meticulously crafted, entering the material world and participating in social discourse. Curator: Ultimately, the monkeys offer a distorted mirror to ourselves. Editor: And the means of production offer insight into the world in which it was made.