toledoblade.com --

Had you lived and died 3,000 years ago in Egypt, your lungs would have been removed for the afterlife and placed in a baboon-lidded jar near your mummified remains.

Had you lived in Japan a few hundred years ago, you may have worn a box at the waist of your kimono, fastened with a finely-carved macaque.

Cute monkey images have recently shown up in baby nurseries and bathroom decor. Curious and clever, monkeys have fascinated and amused people across time and cultures. They star in a new display of simiana, "Monkey Business," at the Toledo Museum of Art through Aug. 30.

It's a nod to the 150th anniversary of Englishman Charles Darwin's paper, "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life" as well as Darwin's 200th birthday.

Primate images have long been used satirically and to symbolize folly, or good and evil, says Edward Hill, curator of the exhibit and assistant in the museum's works of art on paper department.

"There's all sorts of monkey representations, more so than any other animal. There's never any evil dog images," says Mr. Hill. "And sometimes, they're just simply decorations."

Monkeys, occasionally with wings, appear in 14th-century religious manuscripts and prayer books, sharing border illustrations with fanciful creatures and leafy vines. The medieval artist might never have seen an actual monkey, says Mr. Hill, but copied images from previous drawings.

An Italian engraving from 1550-60, was inspired by paintings found in Nero's 1st-century Golden House palace. In it, a pair of monkeys sit below a chariot driven by a naked Zeus; they're holding olive branches and peering at the viewer.

In the 1633 Allegory of Vanity by Dutchman Jan Molenaer, a small chained monkey sitting at the feet of a young beauty symbolizes humankind shackled by sin.

A watercolor dating to mid-1800s India depicts the monkey hero Hanuman and his multitude of monkey soldiers in the service of Rama, the blue-skinned god.

A 19th century Japanese wood block print has endearing monkeys hanging long-armed, one to another similar to the Monkeys in a Barrel game.

Monkeys appear in satiric cartoons by the Spaniard Goya (1799) and the American Thomas Nast (1871), and in a 1955 woodcut by M.C. Escher of the Netherlands.

A 1902 book of poetry by the museum's first director, George W. Stevens, is displayed, open to a page with a gorilla sketched by A. D. Cardo, a Toledo newspaper artist who went on to enjoy modest fame with his syndicated Everett True comic strip.

Mike Dilley has been in the monkey business for 35 years. Their appearance, agility, intelligence, strength, and facial expressions, let alone their similarities to us make them an entertaining bunch, says Mr. Dilley, associate curator of primates at the Toledo Zoo.

About 97 percent of the chimpanzees' DNA is identical to human DNA, he points out.

"The way they can sit and look at you through the window, and you wonder if they're thinking the same thing you are," he says.

The zoo's primates (nine gorillas, seven orangutans, four gibbons, two chimpanzees, and four species of monkeys) may not get a bang out of the manner we've used their likenesses, but they do have a sense of humor. Orangutans enjoy playing pranks on their keepers, such as picking up a water hose left running in their enclosure, putting a finger over the nozzle to intensify the stream, and hosing down a keeper, Mr. Dilley says. Yes, he speaks from personal experience.

And if they find an object that doesn't belong in their cage, such as a screw or a stone, they'll show it to a keeper, indicating they'll trade it for food. The keeper will give them the treat, but the primate won't fork over the object, hoping for another snack.

Chimpanzees smile by opening their mouths in a circle with no teeth showing, says Mr. Dilley. A gorilla's laugh is a nasal grunt; an orangutan's chuckle is a high-pitched, squeaky whisper.

And the key difference between monkeys and apes? Monkeys have tails, apes do not.

"Monkey Business" includes a 1910 Libbey pitcher engraved with monkeys, a mischievous monkey from the hand of Picasso, Buckeye Brewery signage, and a sock monkey.

The aforementioned baboon lid of the lung-holding (canopic) jar was a 1906 gift from Florence and Edward Libbey, who acquired about 200 antiquities on their grand journey to Egypt and Europe. They also purchased a small amulet depicting Hapy the protector of lungs. Dating to 745-663 B.C., the amulet would have been sewn onto the fabric enwrapping the mummy.

This exhibition was not organized for children, but they're likely to enjoy it and the free hands-on activities July 12 (2 p.m.), July 31 (7 p.m.), and Aug. 16 (2 p.m.) Docents will lead exhibit tours July 3 (6:30 and 7:30 p.m.) and Aug. 30 (1, 2, 3, and 4 p.m.).

Contact Tahree Lane at:
tlane@theblade.com
or 419-724-6075.

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