3-084-724 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Dance of the Rats, c1690. Additional Info: 'When the cat’s away, the mice will play.' This proverb seems to be illustrated by the four comical rats dancing ring-a-ring-o’-roses. The brown shape in the background, which resembles the head of a fish or monster, helps to solve the puzzle. It is the fragment of a carved table base and reveals that the painting was cut out of a larger canvas. Scenes of animals parodying human behaviour are frequently encountered in Flemish painting. In that context, mice and rats are generally associated with vices such as drunkenness and gluttony.