Observations on the Walton Ford painting Buddha Purnima

In the painting “Buddha Purnima” by Walter Ford the monkey carrying fruit on the crocodile’s back with small monkey bones nearby on the island alludes to the folly of the monkey and the crocodile’s seduction which will help fill its belly. The scene of the picture at first glance appears lighthearted with the monkey and the crocodile cooperating to see the monkey to the shore safely, but when carefully inspected the crocodile’s seductiveness is revealed. The first clue is the mingled pieces of bones in the right corner of the painting suggesting the hostile intent. The detail that captures the intent is in the distances, and it is what looks like a crocodile’s mouth with a monkey fearfully flailing to escape its fate. The threat is not realized by the monkey which has a reassuring hand on the back of the crocodile suggesting the monkey’s unfailing trust in its ferry. The monkey is also clutching the fruits it has scavenged like a precious treasure. The value of his cargo seems to distract the monkey of his surroundings allowing him to fall into obvious trap. The obliviousness of the monkey due to the distraction of his treasure implies that we to may fail victim to allowing perceived valuables distract us from hostile surroundings and lead to misfortune.

The picture reminds me of the fable of the crocodile and the monkey in which a crocodile becomes friends with a monkey, and the crocodile’s wife demands for him to get the monkey’s heart, so he takes the monkey on the water to eat him, but the monkey tricks the crocodile to get back to land. Except in this painting, it appears the crocodile gets the heart.