Editing Jan Brueghel the Younger (section)

===Singeries===
Jan Breughel the Elder had contributed to the development of the genre of the 'monkey scene', also called '[[singerie]]' (a word, which in French means a 'comical grimace, behaviour or trick').<ref>[http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/singerie/72856 'Singerie'] in Larousse online {{in lang|fr}}</ref> Comical scenes with monkeys appearing in human attire and a human environment are a pictorial genre that was initiated in Flemish painting in the 16th century and was subsequently further developed in the 17th century.<ref name=bert>Bert Schepers, ''Monkey Madness in Seventeenth-Century Antwerp'', in: The Rubenianum Quarterly, 2012 2, p. 5</ref>  Monkeys appear in medieval cathedral sculpture as symbols of evil, while in Renaissance art they were a personification of man.<ref name=dor>[https://www.dorotheum.com/en/l/6718257 Jan Brueghel II, ''Allegory of Tulipomania''] at Dorotheum</ref> Monkeys were regarded as shameless and impish creatures and excellent imitators of human behaviour. These depictions of monkeys enacting various human roles were a playful metaphor for all the folly in the world.<ref name=rub>[http://www.rubenshuis.be/en/page/monkeys-feasting-singerie Jan Brueghel I, ''Monkeys feasting (singerie)''] at the Rubenshuis</ref>  Painters could use the figure of the monkey to express moral judgement and dubious traits of human behaviour.<ref name=dor/>
[[File:Allegorie der Tulipomanie.jpg|thumb|''Allegory of the Tulipomania'']]

The Flemish engraver [[Pieter van der Borcht the Elder|Pieter van der Borcht]] introduced singeries as an independent theme around 1575 through a series of prints, which were strongly embedded in the artistic tradition of [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder]]. These prints were widely disseminated causing the theme to be picked up by other Flemish artists. The Antwerp artist Frans Francken the Younger was the first one to do so. He was quickly followed by Jan Brueghel the Elder, [[Sebastiaen Vrancx]] and [[Jan van Kessel the Elder]]. Jan Brueghel the Elder's son-in-law [[David Teniers the Younger]] later became the principal practitioner of the genre and developed it further with his younger brother [[Abraham Teniers]]. Later in the 17th century [[Nicolaes van Verendael]] painted these 'monkey scenes' as well.<ref name=bert/>

Jan Brueghel the Younger also practised this genre.  An example is his ''Allegory of Tulipomania'' or ''Satire of Tulipomania'' of which he painted at least four versions, of which three place the scene outdoors and one situates it in a loggia. The painting mocks the obsession of Dutch society with the trade and speculation in tulips.<ref name=tul>[https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5675738 Jan Brueghel II, ''An Allegory of Tulipomania''] at Christie's</ref> A lively trade in tulips and tulip bulbs had developed in the Dutch Republic with prices rising to unprecedented levels. Speculation was rife, resulting in big profits and big losses. Brueghel's ''Satire of Tulipomania'' pokes fun at the tulip traders. The version in the [[Frans Hals Museum]] in [[Haarlem]] shows monkeys negotiating, weighing bulbs, counting money and handling administrative tasks. The monkey on the left holds a list of bulb prices. On the right, a monkey is urinating on tulips, thus mocking this tulip mania.<ref name=fhm>[http://collectie.franshalsmuseum.nl/#/query/1768490f-db8e-4760-8a10-334f06ace0e0 Jan Brueghel II, ''Satire of Tulipomania ''] at the [[Frans Hals Museum]] in [[Haarlem]]</ref>