Le lion, le signe et les deaux ?nes, 1729-1734, Jean-Baptiste Oudry, French, 1686¡V1755, 9 5/8 ¡Ñ 7 1/4 in. (24.45 ¡Ñ 18.42 cm) (image)11 3/4 ¡Ñ 9 11/16 in. (29.85 ¡Ñ 24.61 cm) (sight)18 7/8 ¡Ñ 16 1/4 ¡Ñ 1 in. (47.94 ¡Ñ 41.28 ¡Ñ 2.54 cm) (outer frame), Point of the brush and grey wash and black ink, heightened with white, on blue paper, within a painted mount, France, 18th century, This is an illustration to a Fable written as a poem in the 1600s. The King of Beasts encounters a monkey, cast as the wise counselor. The lion asks the monkey to explain how, as a leader, he can avoid self-aggrandizement. The monkey responds by telling a story of two donkeys in conversation, who excessively congratulate each other, thus blinding themselves to their own faults. To instruct his majesty how his behavior ought to be, the monkey knows he must tread lightly, else he¡¦d risk a fate unsightly.