A monkey sitting on the Volga, what does the expression mean? Three monkeys
I see nothing, I hear nothing,
I don’t know anything, I won’t tell anyone anything...
“I don’t see anything,” words L. Oshanina, music O. Feltsman, popular artists: Edita Piekha And Tamara Miansarova
Many people know the ancient eastern symbol - three monkeys, one of which diligently covers its eyes with its paws, the second covers its ears, and the third covers its mouth. But where they come from, what they are connected to and what they mean is less known.
Place of Origin of the Three Monkeys
There are many assumptions regarding the place where the three monkeys appeared: they are called and China, and India, and even Africa, but the homeland of the three monkeys is still Japan. Confirmation may be reading in Japanese the actions expressed by the composition: “I don’t see, I don’t hear, I don’t speak” (when recording using kanji見猿, 聞か猿, 言わ猿 - mizaru, kikazaru, ivazaru). Suffix giving negation " -zaru" is consonant with the word "monkey", in fact it is a voiced version of the word " Sarah"(猿). It turns out that the image of three monkeys is a kind of pun or rebus, a play on words understandable only to the Japanese.
Religious roots
The original religious significance of the monkey group is undoubted. It is often directly called Buddhist symbol, but not everything is so simple. Yes, Buddhism accepted three monkeys, but it was not he, or rather, he was not the only one who gave birth to the three monkeys.
Religion in Japan has special properties: it is unusually malleable and at the same time elastic: throughout history, the Japanese have encountered many religious and philosophical teachings, accepted and processed them, combining, sometimes incompatible, complex systems and syncretic cults.
Cult of Kosin
The Three Monkeys are originally associated with one of the Japanese folk beliefs - Kosin. Based on Chinese Taoism, Kosin’s faith is relatively simple: one of the main postulates is that three certain observer entities (“worms”) “live” in every person, collecting incriminating evidence on their owner and regularly, during his sleep, sending a report to the Heavenly Lord. The follower of the cult, in order to avoid big troubles, needs to abstain from evil in every possible way, and those who have not succeeded in this, so that these internal informants cannot convey something unseemly “to the center” in time, at the estimated time of the “sessions” (usually once every two months) they need to abstain from sleep , hold vigils.
When the Three Monkeys Appeared
The question of the exact time of the appearance of the three monkeys, apparently, cannot be resolved, partly due to folk character a faith that has no centralization and no archives of any kind. Adherents of the Kosin cult erected stone monuments ( Kosin). Here it is worth looking for the oldest materially recorded images of three monkeys. The problem is that it is hardly possible to date such monuments.
The most famous of the three monkeys provide some certainty. For the Japanese, such a composition is known as “three monkeys from Nikko ».
Three monkeys from Nikko
Biological species of three monkeys
There are many options for composition with the image different monkeys(and not just monkeys), chimpanzees, for example, close their eyes, ears and mouth. Obviously, in Japan there must have been a different original source of the image. Most likely, the three monkeys were supposed to be depicted Japanese macaques(lat. macaca fuscata), who became famous in Lately « snow monkeys", basking in winter in geothermal springs in Hell's Valley in the prefecture Nagano.
Picture of three monkeys
Three monkeys have now spread almost all over the world; they are depicted in souvenirs and on household items, are used in the form of interior decoration and in garden sculpture, in many populated areas there are monuments to the three monkeys in the world, they are used street artists in graffiti and cartoonists in political satire, which can be found on Somali coins and designer Russian nesting dolls. It is impossible to describe all the options, so we will try to limit ourselves to only some classic solutions.
Composition options
Scattered figures
Beginning with the classic Nikko monkeys, artists can depict monkeys individually without being constrained by a general pose or arrangement. This solution leaves a lot of freedom and allows you to place the figures more lively and at ease.
Close group
The three isolated figures are too disconnected, so artists often want to show a closer connection, the commonality of the three negating principles. One of the possible ways of interaction is in which the monkeys cover each other's ears, mouth and eyes. One of the factors that pushed the composition towards a centripetal unification was the use of three monkeys in the form netsuke. Netsuke ( netsuke) - a piece of clothing, a keychain that allows you to attach to a belt kimono hang wearable items on a cord, for example, a wallet or writing instruments (kimonos do not have pockets). The functional purpose determines the dimensions and requirements for the shape of the netsuke: the keychain must be round and fit in the fist. Three separate figures do not fit into such requirements well. The monkeys are placed on top of each other, pressed against each other with their backs, and forced to roll into a single lump.
One for all
In any case, the composition of three monkeys turns out to be visually overloaded for the netsuke format, but the carvers have developed a “lighter” version: just one monkey uses all four paws to cover the eyes, ears and mouth (the eyes and mouth with the front limbs, and the ears with the hind limbs).
For the only monkey replacing three at once, the name of the author-inventor of the composition is known. With a fair degree of confidence we can name the master Masatsugu Kaigyokusai (懐玉斎正次) from Osaka, who worked in the 19th century. It is curious that such a composition seemed to be repeated in Russia in the workshops of Carl Faberge.
Fourth wheel
Quite often you can find groups of monkeys, expanded by a fourth or even a fifth figure. The “extra” monkey either covers the crotch and calls either “not to do” (evil) or “not to have pleasure.” Or the monkey sits calmly, not blocking anything from anything (the name “not thinking” is found). It is difficult to say when and where the addition occurred, but it is unlikely to be long ago and unlikely in Japan.
Play a monkey
In Japan, compositions appeared that repeated the three monkeys, but without the monkeys, for example, pictures with geishas “I don’t see, I don’t hear, I don’t pronounce.” And nowadays it is customary to “be a monkey”: in large Internet photo storage services (like Flickr) it is enough to ask the request “three wise monkeys” or “see no evil” to see the faces of hundreds and hundreds of people. And the souvenir industry puts anyone in monkey poses; you can find “monkey” groups of almost all representatives of the fauna or characters of popular culture.
Sequence order
There is no one accepted order for the monkeys to appear in the composition. Just look at the monkeys from Nikko and compare them with the koshin-to stele or the photographs of modern works.
Cultural influence of the three monkeys
First of all, there is no doubt that the symbol of the three monkeys entered the world popular culture. The composition, if not popular, is recognizable in almost all corners of the Earth.
Mahatma Gandhi(Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi), a fighter for the independence of India, a teacher of the Indian people and an ideologist of non-violence, did not part with his beloved three monkeys, perhaps the only luxury he could afford. Now Gandhi's monkeys remain one of the main relics in the former residence Bapu Kuti in an ashram located in a model village Sevagram rural areas Maharashtra.
He left his personal impressions of the monkeys at the stables in Toshogu Rudyard Kipling Somalia 2006
Three monkeys were depicted on postage stamps Tajikistan And New Caledonia.
In the popular animated series Family Guy ( Family Guy) exists minor character Evil Monkey(English: “evil monkey” or “evil (vicious) monkey”). Embodying the childhood fears of one of the cartoon characters, Evil Monkey lives in the closet, scares and torments its owner. There is an obvious allusion-contrast in the name of the monkey English name three monkeys “no evil monkeys”: if there are “monkeys without evil”, then there must also be a “monkey with evil”.
Film by Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan ( Nuri Bilge Ceylan), which won the 2008 Cannes Film Festival for Best Director, is called "Üç Maymun" (Turkish for "three monkeys"). In the story, the characters are trying to get away from their family problems, trying not to notice and hush them up. That is, “three monkeys” are considered by the authors as a synonym for the “ostrich position.”
A number of English-language books and films use the play on the phrase “I don’t see - I don’t hear...” in their titles, for example, american film 2006 horror film “See No Evil” (in Russian box office “I See No Evil”), 1989 comedy film “See No Evil, Hear No Evil” (“I see nothing, hear nothing”), an autobiographical book by a former CIA agent Robert Baer “See No Evil” (“Not Seeing Evil”), etc.
In Erle Stanley Gardner's detective story The Case Of The Mythical Monkeys (1959), a silk scarf depicting three monkeys serves as the central piece of evidence. The three monkeys are often depicted on the covers of various editions of this book.
In the repertoire American group Sparks There is a song called “Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil.”
[...]
Hear no evil (Monkey 1 says you shouldn't hear it)
See no evil (Monkey 2 says you shouldn't see it)
Speak no evil (Monkey 3 says you shouldn't speak it)
[...]
Skeleton-like character, mascot mascot, adorning the album covers and posters of the American thrash metal band Megadeth, With own name Vic Rattlehead ( Vic Rattlehead) is depicted with his eyes covered with a steel plate, his ears plugged with some metal objects, and his mouth tied with steel hooks.
Citizens of the ex-USSR know one of the variants of the name of the composition with three monkeys from the song “I See Nothing” by Oscar Feltsman and Lev Oshanin, which is included in the epigraph of this article. The song is popular in performances Tamara Miansarova ( Madeleine Albright), known for wearing brooches containing symbolic messages for interlocutors or audiences, wore a brooch with the image of three monkeys to a meeting with Vladimir Putin in 2000, as a sign of her attitude to the situation in Chechnya.
Politicians from different countries are often depicted in cartoons in the form of three monkeys: the authorities are deaf and blind to the aspirations of the people and tend to hush up problems.
Literature
- About the three monkeys in Japanese:
中牧弘允 ISBN 4885915449 - On parallels with three monkeys in world religious and philosophical teachings:
virgo_splendens Lectures on the Three Monkeys. Con. October - beginning November 2012 - About the three monkeys in netsuke:
All about netsuke. Mythological subjects/Comp. S. Yu. Afonkin. St. Petersburg: SZKEO Crystal LLC, 2006.-160 p., ill. ISBN 5-9603-0057-5 - About three monkeys in the design of traditional Japanese edged weapons:
Skralivetsky E. B. Tsuba are legends in metal. - St. Petersburg: Atlant Publishing House LLC, 2005.-328 p.: ill. ISBN 5-98655-015-3 - About the Taoist influence on Japanese beliefs and art, including the origin of the Koshin cult and the connection of the three monkeys with it
Uspensky M.V. On the question of the role of Taoism in Japanese folk beliefs (based on materials from miniature Japanese sculpture of the 17th-19th centuries). Sat. Art and religion. Scientific works GE. – L.: Art, 1981, p. 59-75 - About the teachings of Confucius: any edition of Lun Yu (exists in many translations), for example:
Confucius. Aphorisms and sayings.-M. LLC "House of Slavic Book", 2010.-320 p. ISBN 978-5-91503-117-2
The attitude towards monkeys as a symbol is ambiguous and largely depends on belonging to Eastern or Western culture.
European fears
In the Christian world, the animal represents human vices, as it is associated with carnival, buffoonery and acting. In French tradition, the monkey is associated with love. In English and German there are phrases mentioning primates, denoting a drunk person.
Asian Delight
Eastern peoples identify the animal with lightning speed, agility, and caution. In India and Egypt, the monkey represents courage, dedication and agility. IN Ancient Mexico the animal symbolically represented the wind. In Egypt, the baboon is the personification of wisdom.
IN Ancient China The gibbon was a symbol of maternal love. The Japanese still believe that the monkey symbol protects children. In Mexico, animals are worshiped as the embodiment of their deceased ancestors. Chinese art Home improvement Feng Shui defines the monkey symbol as protection from failure and cunning.
Cult meat
It is believed that monkeys are very... They have a large brain - a recognized delicacy in Africa, China, and South Asia. According to eaters, animal meat conveys wisdom, a sense of humor, wit, and remarkable memory.
Ancient Chinese mythology conveys the ability to run fast from the meat of a great monkey. One of Japanese fairy tales tells that the illness of the wife of the underwater king was treated with monkey liver.
Religious cults
The deification of primates is expressed in the depiction of gods in their appearance. The river deity Wuzhiqi in ancient China had the body of an animal. In Buddhism, the monkey is a vulnerable embodiment of the Buddha, but can also represent ugliness, deception, greed, and insatiability in satisfying sensual desires.
In Hinduism, Rama's companion is considered to be the monkey-like god Hanuman (who has a broken jaw), who is endowed enormous power and the ability to fly, change size and shape. The thunder god Indra (Slavic Perun) broke the jaw of a little idiot by throwing a spear. Being the son of the wind god Vayu, Hanuman symbolizes the gift of healing and fertility.
In India, there are still temples where monkeys live as a sacred animal. Macaques that have infested the states of India, causing a lot of trouble for people, nevertheless they remain inviolable for local residents.
Three controllers
The composition from three monkeys covering their eyes, ears and mouth with their paws - do not see, do not hear, do not talk about bad things. Presumably these images emerged from Japanese beliefs in three entities living in every person.
They observe the actions of the owner and twice a month during sleep they report to the Lord of Heaven about the evil committed. In order to avoid heavenly punishment for unseemly actions during “reporting periods,” followers of the faith hold night vigils, refusing to sleep. The symbol of three monkeys protects the owner from slander and libel.
People from monkeys and vice versa
Legends different nations They claim that monkeys are people who once went wild. Similar myths are alive among the Indians of Central America and the aborigines of Southeast Africa. The mythology of the ancient Greeks mentions the island of Pitecus (monkeys), whose population, the Kerkopi tribe, was turned into animals for constant lies.
In Tibet and South China on the contrary, they proudly acknowledge the origin of their species from animals. This is probably due to the totemism of ancient symbols, just as the tribes in Rus' were identified with the bear, elk and other representatives of the fauna.
In Buddhism, the sacred monkey, from which the Tibetan family descended, is the incarnation of the saint (bodhisattva) Avalokiteshvara. Each Dalai Lama, who is the spiritual father of the local residents, is considered the earthly incarnation of this deity.
Art and nature
The Middle Ages recognized the image of the monkey as an allegory of fine art, since they considered the creativity of people only an imitation of the creativity of Nature. Monkeys paved the way into space for people, having previously flown around the earth from America. Until now, medical experiments are carried out on animals, using physiological and psychological similarities with humans.
Monkeys are kept as pets, which in some cases act as service animals for the disabled. In tourism and farming, primates often act as pests, causing significant damage to business profitability and human property.
Favorite in the East
Outcast in Medieval Europe
David Teniers the Younger. Monkey
Monkeys are exotic animals from distant lands, -
were distributed in Western Europe already from the early Middle Ages.
This is evidenced by documents, and even in the fine arts of monkeys
occur quite often. What attracted people and artists so much to these
animals? What place do they occupy in the series of symbols and what do they say?
art fans?
David Teniers the Younger Monkey Festival
Europe was captured by primates - this is the conclusion that arises when you consider
illustrations of ancient manuscripts and paintings by old masters. And this is partly true.
In the thirteenth century, monkeys even lived at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris! Trained
“courtly manners” and the art of tournament fighting of animals were often taught by histrions
(wandering buffoons) for the amusement of the common people.
In Medieval Europe, domesticated monkeys were kept in royal courts and
rich houses as an attribute of wealth. The animals lived in monasteries and even churches.
On the road to hell
Frans Franken Younger Man makes a choice between Virtue and Sin
Despite the popularity of these funny animals, the church did not have reverence for them.
The roots of such a negative attitude go back to early Christianity when in Ancient
Egypt (“the land of darkness” from which, according to the Old Testament, Moses fled)
They worshiped the god Thoth in the form of a baboon.
In 391, in Alexandria, after the pogrom of the pagans, Christians left only one statue
sacred baboon, in order to be able to demonstrate to the whole world the idols of the “infidels”.
With the establishment of Christianity, the monkey became a recognized enemy of the church, and in
In sermons, the words “devil” and “monkey” were sometimes used as synonyms.
Medieval morality stigmatized innocent animals for centuries, defining
They have a clear role. For example, in one of the early European miniatures (XV century) in the plot
When God created animals, only the monkey was left to the right of the Creator as an antagonist
unicorn. So the forces of good and evil were opposed!
In Lukas Moser's painting "Mary and Child", as well as in his "Last Communication of Mary"
Magdalene" (altar), the monkey is also specially introduced as the antipode of the image of Christ.
Albrecht Durer Madonna and Monkey 1497
This is the same meaning of the “Madonna and the Monkey” by the great Albrecht Durer: a baby sits in his arms
with a bird, the monkey is located on the other side, of course, at the feet of the Mother of God, again,
as a contrast. In the painting by Israel von Meckenem “The Appearance of Christ to the People”
a monkey is chained to the bars of a prison window and placed in the foreground on
one line with Christ, but opposite him.
Israel von Meckenem Ecce Homo XV
Snake or monkey? Who is really to blame for the Fall?
Even St. Augustine the Blessed in the 4th century. from the Nativity of Christ preached that the devil is
This is “God’s monkey”: cunning, cruel, merciless and lustful. Particularly popular
acquired the last property of primates. Even Dream Books published in the 9th-13th centuries
interpreted the appearance of a monkey in a dream as a sign of the upcoming “Pleasantness”.
The allegory of the image of a monkey - the embodiment of the sin of lust, can be traced
in many stories.
Giovanni Stefano Di Adoration of the Magi 1432
Thus, in Stefano di Giovanni’s painting “The Journey of the Magi” in front of a caravan with gifts
Gaspard, Melchior and Balthasar have a monkey sitting on the back of one of their horses.
It is possible that the author wanted to emphasize the exotic nature of the offering to the infant Christ.
But, given the active use of symbolic language in sacred painting, the most
it is likely that the defenseless monkey means the sensual, animal nature of man,
which now, with the birth of the Savior, is destined to bow before Him.
This thesis is easily recognized in the central panel of the triptych in the Church of Gummarus in
Lire (Belgium) by Gossen van der Weyden (1516). In the scene of the maiden's marriage
Mary in the lower left corner there is a monkey hugging a dog
In the 16th century the monkey began to appear often in the scene of the fall of Adam and Eve, although
The Bible does not include her presence in this episode. However, if it is logical
judge: who else, if not the unceremonious monkey with its lust, addiction
to fruits, who else, if not her, would provoke the first humans to taste the forbidden fruit!
The baboon's sheer fertility, so prized by the ancients, has now become one of
“evidence” of sinfulness coming from the devil.
Cornelis van Haarlem The Fall 1592
It is not surprising that in the scene of the Fall by Jan Gossaert (c. 1525) we find
a monkey sitting at the foot of the Tree of Knowledge behind Adam. True, she eats
pear, as if parodying the violation of the prohibition to eat from the Fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
With the advent of the Renaissance, in the 16th century, the official persecution of monkeys
churchmen weakened. Has sexuality ceased to be a deadly sin?
either the life-giving spirit of the Renaissance was able to deal a crushing blow to obscurantism,
but images of monkeys even appeared in cathedrals (though extremely rarely) in Cologne,
London, Monts. It is from these times that the monkey is increasingly not the devil, but his victim,
sinner, fallen angel. And in the mysteries, the monkey already represented the state
man before the soul entered him.
Chained by one chain
The restless disposition of the monkeys brought their owners a lot of trouble. The French are here to stay
remember how monkeys climbed into the courthouse of the Duchy of Burgundy in the 1288th century
and destroyed the entire archive. To avoid such cases, the “robbers” simply became
keep on chains. Even Queen Isabella of Bavaria's monkey was chained to
wooden bowl. But the artists saw didactic potential in this image.
And now a wooden deck means worldly pleasures, and one deprived of freedom
an innocent animal - “tamed sin.”
Pieter Bruegel the Elder Two Monkeys
It is in this vein that one of the most popular stories is interpreted.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder - “Two Monkeys” (1562)
Most art critics tend to interpret the painting as an allegory
a person enslaved by passions, no longer even striving for freedom, but
content with the “pathetic feast of three nuts”, embodying
creature comforts.
Based on the above, it is not difficult to decipher the meaning contained in “Portrait
Prince Edward" by Hans Holbein (1541-1542): a monkey in the arms of the young prince
Welsh indicates that he is in perfect control of his passions, although he
almost still a child.
And Infanta Isabella, daughter of Philip II, in all likelihood, too
demonstrates the ability to restrain emotions and desires.
Alonso Sanchez Coelho Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia and Magdalena Ruiz 1586
The monkey, as tamed sinfulness, can also be found in the painting by Hals Dirk
"Fete Champetre" ("Feast in Nature", 1628). Funny company resting while sitting
at the table and playing music. However, the center of this entire picturesque group is…
a monkey chained to a chair is the undoubted personification of bridled sensuality.
Dirk Hals Fete Champetre 1627
True, depending on the context, this image is sometimes given a direct
the opposite meaning is “voluntary commitment to sin.”
No wonder that in the 15th century even the word “monkey” in Europe was used as
synonymous with “slutty woman,” and the animals themselves have become traditional
belonging to Italian courtesans. Kings and dukes gave their
for the favorites of the monkeys - a souvenir not without subtext!
The image of a monkey as the embodiment of the sin of lust, sensual licentiousness
gained popularity in the Netherlands and Dutch painting XVI - XVII centuries
Confirmation of this can be seen in the paintings of Peter Gerrits van Rooystraten
(“Loose Chefs,” “The Proposal”): An unceremonious monkey peers under
young woman's skirt.
Peter Gerrits van Rooystraten Proposition VIII
Even a monkey dressed in purple will still be a monkey
Man has always suffered from high self-esteem, and the animals deified in the East
frightened Europeans with their obvious similarity to them. Which is not surprising, since
we belong to the same order of mammals! But this little fidgety
the creature also behaves like a parody of a person: it makes faces and skillfully
mimics. In Europe (unlike the East) no one has ever come to
head comparison: you are smart as a monkey or handsome. Instead she was made
the main character of caustic fables, an ugly caricature, a personification
human vices - such as stupidity, vanity, greed and laziness, plus more
and coquetry, curiosity, frivolity and talkativeness, if we're talking about about a woman.
What if it’s about an artist? Monkey's ability to imitate, starting from the era
The Middle Ages, gave reason to make it a kind of symbol of painting and
sculptures. The fact is that the artist’s art has long been perceived as
the skill of copying the surrounding world.
Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin Monkey Artist XVIII
The Latin aphorism “Ars simia naturae” (“Art is the monkey of nature”) especially
appealed to the artists of the 17th century. In this sense it can be called software
painting by Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin. Main actor- crafty
a monkey trying to draw a broken figurine of Cupid.
Frans Franken the Younger Untitled
In anthropomorphic subjects, artists saw a safe opportunity to ridicule
person. Monkeys began to be depicted as not only drawing, like artists,
but also sitting at the dinner table, playing cards or playing music
instruments, carousing, dancing, skating, etc.
The monkey became man's alter ego, the embodiment of his worst sinful qualities and
at best - his innocent weaknesses. Flemish masters in the 17th century. even
created special genre so-called “monkey feasts” (Simmenfeest). He has
The origins were, among other things, Jan Brueghel the Elder (Velvet). worked a lot with
the subject in question is Frans Franken (title illustration) and David Teniers the Younger. For example, in the painting “Monkeys in the Kitchen” as in a satirical cast of people’s lives
a clear hierarchical ladder is visible. The leader is sitting on a stool,
towering above his fellow tribesmen. The conspirators were hiding behind him.
Everything about them is somehow completely human!
Frans Franken the Younger Monkeys playing backgammon XVII
What can a monkey say about the taste of ginger?
The monkey's vanity has also become notorious, especially in the context of skeptical
relationship to the human desire to know everything. In a painting by an unknown artist
Flemish school"Connoisseurs in a Room with Pictures" (1620) depicts a fictional
private gallery. Rich buyers carefully examine the paintings. But where
and why did the monkey appear in the window? The monkey is a symbol of human stupidity
efforts, the futility of striving for earthly knowledge: instead of idly
look at curiosities, people should spend time in prayer and
preparation for eternal life- the author believes.
Since the Renaissance, with the advent of fashion for the allegory of the five senses in
In humanistic circles, the monkey often acted as an attribute... of taste!
Jan Brueghel the Elder Allegory of the Five Senses
By the end of the 18th century, with the establishment in painting of the majestic academic
style, the fashion for paintings with humanized monkeys has passed.
However, the symbolism of these images fits well into traditional ideas
about man and his sins in subsequent centuries. Therefore there is nothing surprising
The fact is that William Holbrook Bird chose these very creatures for his paintings.
On February 8, 2016, the Year of the Monkey comes into its own.
Opinions regarding the monkey are quite sharply and clearly divided along the East-West mental line. In the countries of the East, especially in Egypt, India and China, the monkey symbolizes wisdom, courage, dexterity and dedication. In the religion of many peoples of the East, the monkey was revered as a sacred animal. In Egypt, the baboon was seen as a symbol of wisdom, in China, the female gibbon personified maternal care, and in Japan, the toy monkey is still considered a children's amulet.
It’s a different matter in the West, where the monkey has become the main character of caustic fables and an ugly caricature of man. For Europeans, the monkey personified such vicious human qualities as stupidity, vanity, imbalance, greed, laziness and lust, and in relation to a woman - also coquetry, curiosity, frivolity and talkativeness.
David Teniers the Younger (1610, Antwerp - 1690, Brussels) Guardroom with Monkeys
Monkeys, exotic animals from distant lands, have been common in Western Europe since the early Middle Ages. Documents testify to this, and monkeys are found quite often in the visual arts. What attracted people and artists so much to these animals? What place do they occupy among symbols and what do they tell art fans?
David Teniers the Younger. Monkey Festival
Europe was captured by primates - this is the conclusion that arises when you look at the illustrations of ancient manuscripts and paintings by old masters. And this is partly true. In the thirteenth century, monkeys even lived at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris! Trained in “courtly manners” and the art of tournament fighting, animals were often taken by histrions (wandering buffoons) for the amusement of the common people.
In Medieval Europe, domesticated monkeys were kept at royal courts and in rich houses as an attribute of wealth. The animals lived in monasteries and even churches.
Despite the popularity of these funny animals, the church did not have reverence for them. The roots of such a negative attitude go back to early Christianity, when Ancient Egypt(“the land of darkness” from which, according to the Old Testament, Moses fled) they worshiped the god Thoth in the form of a baboon.
In 391, in Alexandria, after the pogrom of the pagans, Christians left only one statue of the sacred baboon in order to be able to demonstrate the idols of the “infidels” to the whole world. With the establishment of Christianity, the monkey became a recognized enemy of the church, and in sermons the words “devil” and “monkey” were sometimes used as synonyms.
Medieval morality stigmatized innocent animals for centuries, giving them a clear role. Among the early European miniatures (15th century) the plot of the creation of animals by God is known. All animals are usually located on the left side of the Lord. Moreover, the mythical unicorn was always depicted first - the favorite of the Almighty, who holds this slender, benevolent animal by the mouth (there is an opinion that the unicorn personified Christ, and its horn - the cross, the sacrificial death of the savior). Further on the left are other animals. And only one monkey is to the right of God. At the same time, the unicorn and the monkey are spatially placed on the same plane, thus personifying the antagonism of the forces of good and evil.
In Lukas Moser’s painting “Mary and Child,” as well as in his “Last Communion of Mary Magdalene” (altarpiece), a monkey was specially introduced as the antipode of the bright and pure image of Christ.
LUCAS MOSER. The Journey of Mary Magdalene. External wing of the altar of St. Mary Magdalene. 1431. Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Tiefenborn (Germany)
This is the same meaning of the “Madonna with the Monkey” by the great Albrecht Durer: a baby sits in his arms with a bird, the monkey is located on the other side, of course, at the feet of the Mother of God, again, as a contrast.
Albrecht Durer. Madonna and the Monkey
Hans Baldung. Virgin and Child
In I. Mekkenem's painting "Ecce Homo" a monkey is chained to the bars of a prison window and placed in the foreground on the same line as Christ, but opposite him. Here she is not only his sinful opposite, but also some kind of involvement in the throne of the pagan tyrant Pontius Pilate.
Israel von Meckenem. Ecce Homo
Even St. Augustine the Blessed in the 4th century. from the Nativity of Christ preached that the devil is “God’s monkey”: insidious, cruel, merciless and lustful. The last property of primates has gained particular popularity. Even Dream Books published in the 9th-13th centuries interpreted the appearance of a monkey in a dream as a sign of the upcoming “Pleasantness”.
The allegory of the image of a monkey - the embodiment of the sin of lust, can be traced in many stories.
Frans Franken the Younger. Man makes a choice between Virtue and Sin
The Renaissance is characterized by a desire to multiply meanings and connect fairly distant levels of perception. The Renaissance inherited a taste for symbolism from late Middle Ages, but at the same time there was a certain transformation of perception: the Middle Ages sought to build a hierarchy of meanings, ascending from the literal meaning through allegory to the moral, and then anagogical meaning, which, using Dante’s formula, “through the things signified expresses the highest things, involved eternal glory", while the Renaissance preferred the juxtaposition of meanings. The medieval perception sought to organize itself as a temple, the Renaissance - as a cabinet of curiosities, where objects interact with each other, “nod” at each other, but at the same time remain quite autonomous.
How ambiguous the animal symbols found in the paintings of Renaissance artists is shown by the plot associated with the images of the monkey.
In Stefano di Giovanni’s painting “The Journey of the Magi”, in front of the caravan with the gifts of Gaspard, Melchior and Balthasar, a monkey sits on the back of one of the horses. It is possible that the author wanted to emphasize the exotic nature of the offering to the infant Christ. But, given the active use of symbolic language in sacred painting, it is most likely that the defenseless monkey means the sensual, animal nature of man, which now, with the birth of the Savior, is destined to bow before Him.
Stefano di Giovanni. Journey of the Magi (C. 1435)
This thesis is easily recognized in the central panel of the triptych in the Church of Gummarus in Lira (Belgium) by Gossen van der Weyden (1516). In the scene of the wedding of the Virgin Mary, in the lower left corner there is a monkey hugging a dog,
Gossen Van Den Weyden "The Marriage of the Virgin Mary"
This can be confirmed by the “Crucifixion” (c. 1480-1495, Uffizi Gallery), created by the Master of the Virgin among Virgins (Virgo inter Virgines). An unusual detail is woven into the traditional iconography of the Crucifixion: a monkey sits next to the skull at the foot of the Cross.
Master of the Virgin among the Virgins (Virgo inter Virgines). Crucifixion.(C. 1480-1495. Uffizi Gallery)
Traditional iconography is intended to remind the viewer: the blood from the Savior’s wounds is poured onto Adam’s skull, washing away Original Sin. The Master of the Virgin among the virgins takes another step towards the ultimate visualization of the doctrine of Salvation: the atonement of Original Sin gives a person the opportunity to free himself from the temptations of this world, where he was nothing more than a play of passions, a hostage of his fallen nature, which pushed him around, like the one depicted by the artist a monkey rolling the skull of the Forefather of humanity.
In the 16th century the monkey began to appear frequently in the scene of the fall of Adam and Eve, although according to the Bible its presence is not provided for in this episode. However, if we think logically: who else, if not the unceremonious monkey with her lust, addiction to fruits, who else, if not her, would provoke the first humans to taste the forbidden fruit! The baboon's outright fertility, so valued by the ancients, has now become one of the “proofs” of sinfulness coming from the devil.
Cornelis van Haarlem. The Fall (1592, State Museum, Amsterdam)
It is not surprising that in the scene of the Fall by Jan Gossaert (c. 1525) we find a monkey sitting at the foot of the Tree of Knowledge behind Adam. True, she eats a pear, as if parodying the violation of the prohibition of eating from the Fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Adam and Eve (c. 1525, Staatliche Museen, Berlin)
Thus, with the advent of the Renaissance, in the 16th century, the official persecution of monkeys by clergy weakened. Either sexuality had already ceased to be a mortal sin, or the life-giving spirit of the Renaissance was able to deal a crushing blow to obscurantism, but images of monkeys appeared even in cathedrals (though extremely rarely) in Cologne, London, and Mons. It is from these times that the monkey is increasingly not the devil, but his victim, a sinner, a fallen angel. And in the mysteries, the monkey already represented the state of man before the soul entered him.
The restless disposition of the monkeys brought their owners a lot of trouble. The French remembered for a long time how, in the 1288th century, monkeys climbed into the courthouse of the Duchy of Burgundy and destroyed the entire archive. To avoid such cases, the “robbers” were simply kept in chains. Even Queen Isabella of Bavaria's monkey was chained to a wooden bowl. But the artists saw didactic potential in this image. And now a wooden block means worldly pleasures, and an innocent animal deprived of freedom means “tamed sin.” The monkey chained to the deck by Gossen van der Weyden then personifies “sin chained by virtue.”
Hendrik Goltzius. Monkey on a chain, seated. (Amsterdam, 1597)
A kind of parallel to the described circle symbolic meanings, with which the monkey was endowed in Renaissance painting, can serve as an emblem from the collection of Jacob Tipotius “Symbola divina et humana...” (“Divine and human symbols...”, 1601). Tipotius depicts a monkey sitting on a chain, the motto assigned to the emblem reads: “Exacverant dentas suos” (“Sharpen their teeth”),
Jacob Tipoty. Symbola divina et humana pontificum, imperatorum, regum (Divine and human symbols...). Prague, 1601
and the explanatory inscription says - “Simiae immundi animalis, qua capitur Genius Luxuriae” (“Monkeys, unclean animals, which are captivated by the Spirit of Lust”). But if Dürer’s chained monkey symbolized “tamed sin,” then Tipotius gave this image the exact opposite meaning, and it personifies “attachment to sin.”
Note: the content of a symbol very much depends on the context, and the more clearly it is defined, the more details there are in this context, the tougher the field for an unambiguous interpretation. Symbols are not amenable to “alphabetical reading”, but are subject to the rules of a certain “semantic syntax”. An example of this is the engraving on title page the works of the English philosopher Robert Fludd (1574 - 1637) “Tractatus secundus de naturae simia seu macrocosmi historia” (Second treatise on the natural ape, or history of the macrocosm - lat.), published in Oppenheim in 1618.
Fludd Robert, Tractatus secundus de naturae simia seu technica macrocosmi historia in partes undicis divisa...Francofurti: sumptibus haeredum Johannis Theodori de Bry, Typis Caspari Rötelii, 1624
In the engraving we see a circle drawn into 11 sectors, the symbolic images in which correspond to one of the books in the first part of the treatise, dedicated to the application of mathematics to various areas knowledge: "De Arithmetica Militari" (On the mathematics of war. - lat.), "De Arithmetica Musica" (On the mathematics of music. - lat.), "De Arithmetica Astronomica et Astrologica" (On the mathematics of astronomy and astrology. - lat. ), "De Arithmetica Memoriali" (On the Mathematics of Memory - Latin). In the center of the circle there is a monkey with a pointer. This image refers to the sensory nature of knowledge, defended by Fludd, and the engraving itself is something of a pictorial annotation to the treatise.
The laconicism of the composition allows it to become a repository of the most different meanings. A striking example of this is the famous “Two Monkeys” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1562) from the collection of the Dahlem Gallery in Berlin.
Most art critics are inclined to interpret the painting as an allegory of a man enslaved by passions, no longer even striving for freedom, but content with a “pathetic feast of three nuts” that embody earthly blessings.
P. Bruegel. Two monkeys" (1562)
Two animals, chained to one ring, sit, facing away from each other, in the arch of a window overlooking a sea bay with ships. A pair of birds that soar in the air above the sea provide a marked contrast to the monkeys doomed to captivity. One of the monkeys is turned with its muzzle towards the viewer, but its gaze is directed somewhere past: slightly to the side and down, the other sits, facing the sea, but does not look at it, but at its own feet, and its hunched pose expresses apathy and hopelessness . Next to the monkeys, in the window opening, there are empty shells from which nuts have been shelled. This work of Bruegel caused a lot of interpretations: it was interpreted both as a reflection of the contradiction between the free harmony of nature and the tragic selfishness of man, and as a contrast between the base and spiritual sides of human nature, and as a reflection of the limitations human existence. Perhaps the closest person to interpreting “The Monkeys” was Horst Waldemar Janson, who views the painting as a symbol of man’s position in this world, when, enslaved by passions, he no longer even strives for freedom, but is content with a “pathetic feast of three nuts” that embody creature comforts. This creature, committed to the meager joys of this world, can only evoke pity: we are no longer talking about sinfulness, but about internal doom and melancholy - and complete oblivion of what freedom is.
The motif of freedom given by a monkey for a nutshell is played out in one of the emblems in the book “Silenus Alcibiadis, sive Proteus” (Alcibiades Silenus, that is, Proteus - lat.), published by the Dutch poet and diplomat Jacob Katz and engraver Adrian van de Venne in 1618 For each emblem, the reader was offered three types of interpretative explanations: loving interpretation, moral and religious. The XLI emblem that interests us depicts four monkeys dancing in a circle to the piper’s tune, and at the same time distracting themselves from the dance in order to pick up nuts from the ground, which are poured out to them from the sky, from the cloud, by the “hand of Providence.”
Jacob Katz. Silenus Alcibiadis, sive Proteus (Alkibiadov Silenus, that is, Proteus). Midelburg, 1618. Embl. XLI.
The emblem is preceded by the motto: "Furentem quid delubra avant?" (What good does a madman benefit from entreaties? - lat.).
In the “love part”, as an explanation of the emblem, a verse from Seneca’s Phaedra is given: Amor per coelum volat Regnumque tantum minimus in superos habet (Love from heaven sends, So small that he rules the great), taken from the following context:
Yes, to give free rein to vile vice,
Love called voluptuousness god,
Giving madness an imaginary divinity.
So, it means that the son will wander all over the earth
Sends Eritsin, so that from heaven he
With a gentle hand he showered daring arrows,
And the least of all gods is the strongest god!
All, all the empty thoughts of mad souls:
Bow of the son, power of the divine mother.
Seneca. Phaedra. 195 - 203 Per. S. Osherova
These lines are followed by a poem by Jacob Katz himself in Dutch, telling about a young man who hurried to church to thank God for saving him from the arrows of Cupid, which made the poor man suffer, but met a sweet girl along the way, and was so carried away by her that he forgot about good intentions, like “a monkey who forgets the rhythm of the dance every time he sees nuts thrown at his feet.” In the “moral part” there is a verse from the 2nd Satire of Persia: “O curvae in terris animae” (O souls steeped in earthly things and incapable of heavenly things!), followed by a quotation from the Epistle to the Hebrews, calling: “ lest there be among you any fornicator or wicked man, who, like Esau, would give up his birthright for one meal" (Heb. 12:16). And finally, in the “religious part” there are verses from the “Book of Job”: “You see, God does not reject the blameless and does not support the hands of evildoers” (Job 8:20) and from the Gospel of Matthew: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and righteousness Him, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33). Thus, the emblem sharply contrasts commitment to earthly - love - joys and righteousness and likens lustful people to monkeys, emphasizing the animal nature of passion.
Based on the above, it is not difficult to decipher the meaning contained in the “Portrait of Prince Edward” by Hans Holbein (1541-1542): the monkey in the arms of the young Prince of Wales indicates that he is in perfect control of his passions, although he is almost still a child.
HOLBEIN, Hans the Younger. Edward, Prince of Wales, with Monkey (1541-42, Kunstmuseum, Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Basle)
And Katerina of Aragon, in all likelihood, also demonstrates the ability to restrain emotions and desires.
Anglo-Flemish School, (16th century). Portrait of Queen Catherine of Aragon, early 1530s
Portrait of a Young Nobleman with a Monkey and a Dog (c.1615 Flemish School)
The monkey, as tamed sinfulness, can also be found in Hals Dirk’s painting “Fete Champetre” (“Feast in Nature”, 1627). A cheerful company is relaxing, sitting at the table and playing music. However, the center of this entire picturesque group is... a monkey chained to a chair - an undoubted personification of bridled sensuality.
Dirk Hals. Fete Champetre (1627)
Frans Franken the Younger
BERCHEM, Nicolaes. Merchant Receiving a Moor in the Harbor (Gemäldegalerie, Dresden)
David Teniers the Younger (1610, Antwerp - 1690, Brussels) Die fünf Sinne
It is also noteworthy that the image of a monkey in chains, as a symbol of sin bound by virtue, is present in many medieval paintings, one way or another related to the theme of marriage. They also depict a dog as a symbol of fidelity.
Jan Minze Molenaar. Allegory of marital fidelity. (1633. Virginia Museum fine arts, Richmond)
Teniers David the Younger (1610-1690) Der Maler mit seiner Familie
True, depending on the context, this image is sometimes given the exact opposite meaning - “voluntary commitment to sin.” It is no wonder that in the 15th century even the word “monkey” in Europe was used as a synonym for “loose woman,” and the animals themselves became a traditional accessory of Italian courtesans. Kings and dukes gave their favorites monkeys - a souvenir not without subtext!
The image of a monkey as the embodiment of the sin of lust and sensual licentiousness gained popularity in the Netherlands and Dutch painting of the 16th - 17th centuries. Confirmation of this can be seen in the paintings of Peter Gerrits van Roystraten (“Loose Chefs”, “The Proposal”): an unceremonious monkey looks under the skirt of a young woman.
Pieter Gerritsz Roestraten. The Sleeping Kitchen Maid, (c. 1665)
Peter Gerrits van Rooystraten. Offer
Brugghen, Hendrick Ter (1588-1629). Bacchante with an Ape, 1627 (oil on canvas 102.9x89.2 cm). J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Huysmans, Jacob (c.1633-96) (attr. to). John Wilmot (1647-80) 2nd Earl of Rochester (c.1665-70.Warwick Castle, Warwickshire)
In the portrait famous poet period of the Restoration, a hero-lover, a jester and theatrical patron of the arts, a warrior and a murderer, a coward and a syphilitic, or John Wilmot, the second Earl of Rochester, who spent his entire life struggling with his passions, a monkey is more than appropriate
Man has always suffered from high self-esteem, and the animals deified in the East frightened Europeans with their obvious similarity to them. Which is not surprising, since we belong to the same order of mammals! But this little fidgety creature also behaves like a parody of a person: it makes faces and skillfully imitates. In Europe (unlike the East), no one ever thought of a comparison: you are smart as a monkey or handsome. Instead, she was made the main character of caustic fables, an ugly caricature, the personification of human vices - such as stupidity, vanity, greed and laziness, plus coquetry, curiosity, frivolity and talkativeness, if we are talking about a woman.
What if it’s about an artist? Monkey's ability to imitate, starting from the Middle Ages, gave reason to make her a unique symbol of painting and sculpture. The fact is that the artist’s art has long been perceived as the skill of copying the surrounding world. The Latin aphorism “Ars simia naturae” (“Art is the monkey of nature”) especially appealed to the artists of the 17th century.
Teniers David the Younger (1610-1690) Monkey artist (1660, Prado Museum, Madrid)
Follower of Ferdinand van Kessel (1648-1696) Le singe peintre
In anthropomorphic subjects, artists saw a safe opportunity to make fun of people. And in political satire, animals, and the monkey, in particular, began to play a prominent role.
Brueghel, Jan the Younger (1601-78). A Satire of the Folly of Tulip Mania
College of Animals (Animal School) (Dallas Museum of Art, Texas)
Cornelis Saftleven (1607, Gorinchem - 1681, Rotterdam)Satire on the trial of Johan van Oldenbarneveldt (1663, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
Cornelis Saftleven (1607, Gorinchem - 1681, Rotterdam)An Enchanted Cellar with Animals (1663, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles)
The monkey became man's alter ego, the embodiment of his worst sinful qualities and, at best, his innocent weaknesses. Flemish masters in the 17th century. they even created a special genre of so-called “monkey feasts” (Simmenfeest). Its origins included, among other things, Jan Brueghel the Elder (Velvet). Frans Franken worked a lot with the subject under consideration
Frans Franken the Younger. Monkeys play backgammon
and David Teniers the Younger. For example, in the painting “Monkeys in the Kitchen,” a clear hierarchical ladder is visible as in a satirical cast of people’s lives. The leader sits on a stool, towering over his fellow tribesmen. The conspirators were hiding behind him. Everything about them is somehow completely human!
Teniers David the Younger (1610-1690). Monkeys in the kitchen (c. 1645, Hermitage, St. Petersburg)
Kessel, Ferdinand van (1648-96). A monkey smoking and drinking with an owl (c 1685)
Kessel, Ferdinand van (1648-96). A Tavern Interior with Monkeys drinking and smoking
Teniers, Abraham (1629-70). The Smoking Room with Monkeys (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna)
Teniers, Abraham (1629-70). Barber's shop with Monkeys and Cats (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria)
The monkey's vanity has also become notorious, especially in the context of skepticism about the human desire to know everything. The painting by an unknown artist of the Flemish school, Connoisseurs in a Room with Pictures (1620), depicts a fictional private gallery. Rich buyers carefully examine the paintings. But where and why did the monkey appear in the window? The monkey is a symbol of the stupidity of human efforts, the futility of striving for earthly knowledge: instead of idly looking at wonders, people should spend time in prayer and preparation for eternal life, the author believes.
FRANCKEN Frans II. An Antique Dealers Gallery
Starting from the Renaissance, with the advent of fashion for the allegory of the five senses in humanistic circles, the monkey often acted as an attribute of... taste!
Jan Brueghel the Elder: Allegory of the Five Senses (figures of Hendrick I van Balen) (1617-18)
By the end of the 18th century, with the establishment of a majestic academic style in painting, the fashion for paintings with humanized monkeys passed away.
Anton Nesterov. Fragment of the article “My Age, My Beast...”, or about symbolic thinking and animalistic codes in connection with portraits of the 16th - 17th centuries.
Text messaging is very popular among young people. What can we say, almost any social network has internal mail. With it you can not only type messages, but also attach images, music or even videos. Mail functionality depends on the resource you are on. An excellent example of messengers is the Skype or Viber program. These two apps are available for both PC and mobile devices.
Purpose of emoticons
Whatever the text correspondence, it deprives users of one thing - the accurate expression of emotions. Of course, you can endlessly use punctuation marks or words with strong emotional connotations, but you won’t be able to accurately convey your feelings or joy to your interlocutor. This is exactly why emoticons were invented. Initially, they were made up of simple printed characters such as colons and parentheses, and then they were banal yellow faces, which depicted one or another emotion.
Now the emoticon has found its expression in the system - a group of various images of people, animals, food, cars, signs or other things that users can insert into text correspondence. Of course, there is no need to explain the meaning of simple “smiling”, “crying” or “screaming” emoticons, but often we use this or that pictogram without even knowing what it means. But some emoticons have a certain meaning and even their own history.
For example, the “monkey with” emoticon eyes closed"Some people see here just an image of an animal, while others notice a secret subtext. What? Let's figure it out together and find out, “a monkey with his eyes closed.”
Types of emoticons
In the Emoji system you can find many different emoticons. These are classic yellow cartoon faces, various vehicles with which we can talk about interesting travels, or food emoticons. There are so many of the latter that you can even convey entire recipes using them. Small pictograms are designed not only to show emotions or share interesting news. Psychologists say that information rich in such pictures is better remembered and stored in a person’s memory. The principle is the same as with children's books, which have a lot of illustrations. The child associates the necessary information with the image and remembers it more easily. So if you want someone to remember to go to the store, walk the dog, or, for example, water the flowers, remind them about it in a message with the appropriate emoticon.
Animal emoticons
Animal emoticons represent a separate category. They are needed not only to show the interlocutor an image of the beast. Each animal expresses a certain mood. Thus, with the help of a “dog” you can express devotion, with the help of a “fox” you can express cunning, and with the help of a “snail” you can express slowness. But many of us have noticed three icons with images of monkeys standing in a row. Why monkeys, and what is the point? What does the emoji “monkey with closed eyes” and its “comrades” mean? Read on.
The meaning of the "monkey with closed eyes" emoticon
In order to understand the meaning of this smiley, you need to delve into history. The three monkey emojis are placed together for a reason. Three monkeys, one covering its eyes, another covering its ears, and the third covering its mouth, symbolize an ancient Buddhist idea. The teaching tells us not to do evil and was common in Ancient India, Japan and China. Primates indicate "see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil." Many people have repeatedly asked the question: why monkeys? Historians say that these animals were used to depict the idea of \u200b\u200bthe non-action of evil, because there is a funny play on words in the Japanese language. "I don't see, I don't hear, I don't speak" in Japanese means "Mizaru, Iwazaru, Kikazaru". And the word “monkey” is translated as “dzaru”. Perhaps the ancient Buddhists put another meaning into the image of monkeys, but you and I can only guess about it. And now when we already understand what “monkey with closed eyes” (emoticon) means, we can discuss how to apply it in correspondence. By the way, monkey emojis may look slightly different in different applications.
When to use the "monkey with eyes closed" emoji
A cute primate covering its eyes promises us to “see no evil.” Therefore, the direct purpose of such a pictogram is to show the interlocutor that what he is saying or showing you is bad. For example, he tells you a story where you judge someone or him directly. Perhaps he sent you an image or some materials depicting something that you consider “evil” or disgusting.
When should I use the “monkey with closed eyes” emoticon? You can show the person with whom you are having a conversation that you categorically do not like the course of your dialogue. That you simply do not want to see, read and tolerate what he writes to you.
Another way to use an emoticon is to show that you are hiding from something or have already hidden. Like, they are showing you something or they want something from you, but you, as they said in childhood, are “in the house.”
"Monkeys" on Skype
We figured out what the “monkey with closed eyes” emoticon means. Interestingly, the Skype program has several more varieties of similar emoticons. A monkey wearing Chinese clothing may symbolize the Year of the Monkey. eastern calendar. There is also a small primate lying on the snow. You can send it to your interlocutor, for example, when the first snow falls, and you are very happy about it. There is also an emoticon with the image of a dancing monkey on Skype. It is the most versatile. This way you can show that you are so happy that you are ready to start dancing. Some users call this the "victory dance." For example, you can send an emoticon when you succeeded in something or what you wished for came true.
Finally
I would like to note that if you are tired of the built-in “emoji”, then there are a lot of applications and add-ons for your computer or gadget that allow you to use other emoticons.
Now you know what the “monkey with closed eyes” emoji means. Use it wisely.
