Profile of the 'Cezanne of the Simians'

Jimmy, the chimpanzee at the centre of a court battle over his freedom in Brazil, spent his early years in a circus, performing tricks such as balancing on a wire and riding a monocycle.

When he was not performing, Romano and Ana Garcia, who ran the circus, would treat him much like a human baby.

"My husband brought from overseas three newborn chimpanzees, but we just kept Jimmy," Mrs Garcia, 80, told Brazil's O Globo magazine last year. "He used to drink from a baby bottle, used diapers and slept in a bed."

In 1987, the Garcias became tired of life in a circus and sold Jimmy to D'Italia Circus, where he remained for the next 13 years.

He was donated to Niteroi Zoo, near Rio de Janeiro, in 2000.

According to the GAP - Great Ape Project, many people wrote to animal rights campaigners to complain that Jimmy should not be kept in the zoo before the case seeking to move him to a sanctuary was eventually launched.

The organisation said Jimmy loves jelly beans, guava juice in a can and takes a vitamin supplement every day.

Roched Seba, the animal's trainer at the zoo, said he introduced Jimmy to painting because he had shown no interest in the toys that chimpanzees typically enjoy.

Mr Seba brought some paints to the enclosure and Jimmy began to paint for at least 30 minutes every day, leading to international newspaper headlines and an exhibition of his work.

Nicolas Duvialard, director of the French Alliance school in Niteroi, which staged the exhibition, said at the time: "The idea is to question what is art, what it is to be an artist."

(Published by The Telegraph - April 22, 2011)