John Charles Dollman - Mowgli made leader of the Bandar Log

This painting is based on the Rudyard Kipling story "Kaa's Hunting", collected in The Jungle Book. The painting depicts Mowgli in the Cold Lairs, an abandoned human city taken over by the Bandar-Log (Monkey Folk). The monkeys have promised to make Mowgli their leader, claiming that as a human raised by animals he can demonstrate his human wisdom to them. Soon, however, he learns that they only consider him an amusing toy and are already growing bored with him.