A Cat Can Also Be a Masterpiece: About the Cat in Art and Culture from Antiquity to Modern Times

Abstract

As Leonardo da Vinci used to say: "every cat, even the smallest one, is a masterpiece." The text is an attempt to show the role of this domestic animal in culture from antiquity to the present day. In comparison to the dogs, they find much less reference in culture, tradition, beliefs or art. Nevertheless, cats do show up in every civilization and culture, playing both positive and negative roles as well over the centuries. In European and Christian cultures they appear much more often in negative contexts and pejorative symbolism. In some cultures they were worshiped, given inviolability, treated as a deity, in others they were ignored or even considered to be the embodiment of Satan. Although the cat does not appear directly in the Bible, it is a common symbolic theme for scenes related to Christ, such as the Last Supper and the Feast of Emmaus. Along with the spread of the cat as a companion-household member of human life, the interest in the cat in art, mainly in painting, increases, as exemplified by numerous works by masters of painting, which this text presents while recalling successive eras. In the course of history, the cat was first worshiped, then it lost its importance, only to regain it in a different form, as a companion of human life, a pet and a household member. The cat has permanently entered the canon of the world art through outstanding works of European painters, and has also found its place in popular culture.