Cornelius Visscher’s 1657 engraving, The Large Cat, is grounded, massive, and imperturbable. As for the cat’s failure to attack the mouse, Visscher was said to be inspired by Proverbs 19:15: “Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.” Yet, this is hardly a malnourished tabby, while he does look to be an elderly one. I also consider it possible that he’s simply in the REM phase of deepest sleep. This is my favorite cat illustration.
White Angora Cat Chasing a Butterfly, a 1761 painting by Jean-Jacques Bachelier, is sensuality epitomized. Those who read my first post might recall that I consider the Turkish Angora the most beautiful of cats. As thousands of other besotted people have done since their arrival in Western Europe in the 1600s, I regard them as angels with hidden wings. If you will be so kind as to present me with such a cat, Peggy will be less likely to murder me than if I bought one for myself (it is her silly opinion that five cats are more than enough, although she chose four of them), and I promise you that once a Turkish Angora came through the door of this house, no army could take him out again. I told Peggy that I would give her my left eye and my right arm if she would open her heart to a Turkish Angora, but she objected that she has no use for unattached body parts.
The child in Goya’s 1787 painting, Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuñiga, died four years after his portrait was made. As is often the case in such paintings, Goya’s cat trio portend malevolence, tragedy, and the loss of innocence, this from the vantage point of a species that wages war, runs factory farms, enjoys brutal sports, shoots animals for pleasure, and revels in fictional murders while demonizing animals that must kill to live.
Old Mr. Tombs (by a painter named Ditz) was inspired by George Orwell's 1935 novel, A Clergyman’s Daughter. I see myself in the painting. The year is 2032. My house is cold and poorly lit. I am too weak to read the three remaining books from a library that once contained thousands. Of my scores of potted plants, only a single aspidistra remains, it surviving where nothing else can.* Yet I could afford to live better if I so desired. My cats are my only companions, but I can no longer remember their names. I haven’t peed in days, so I know I will die soon, and my cats will eat my corpse.
M____, from my cat rescue group, is scheduled to drop by in ten days. Meanwhile, the cats will have me to eat. As for water, I had M____ fill every vessel in the house during her last visit, and I have long since arranged my financial affairs so that my cats will live better when I’m gone than they’re living with me here. I am going to close my eyes now, cheered by the thought that my body will soon be incorporated into the bodies of my beloved cats.
“If I die before my cat, I want a little of my ashes put in his food so I can live inside him.”
—Drew Barrymore
*Aspidistras were ubiquitous in the plant-killing atmosphere of gas-lit, coal-heated, heavily-curtained Victorian homes, and their popularity continued through George Orwell’s lifetime (1903-1950). Particularly in Britain, the plant was so beloved that people often had their photos made with it. Because of its popularity, Orwell used the plant to symbolize middle class values in his novel The Flying Aspidistra.
Cats ARE art. An art we usually fail to reproduce successfully.
ReplyDeleteWe have long described chilly evenings as three (or four) cat nights.
I saw "The Graham Children" with my own eyes, when in London a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteI search for cats in artwork always; I adore art museums.
Wow, I didn't know Drew Barrymore said the same thing I have. I told my brothers although they'll never do as I desire, if they outlive me, to mix my ashes with some wet cat food and feed it to the strays. I like the thought of, after death, becoming a million different things, my bits and pieces that is, including incorporation into the souls of cats. I like very much your paragraph following the Goya child painting. The irony of humans judging any animal!
ReplyDeleteNow I can't thinking of the irony of humans judging animals because Thanksgiving is coming up. At Thanksgiving, when people gather around a carcass then pray to their gods, it makes me laugh hysterically every single time. All I see, in the humans gathered about the table, is a bunch of wild animals, salivation dripping from fangs, about to tear into some hapless victim of their hunger.
ReplyDeleteSuch wonderfully beautiful kitty art, purrfect!
ReplyDelete"Cats ARE art."
ReplyDeleteAs Michaelangelo said: "The smallest feline is a masterpiece."
"We have long described chilly evenings as three (or four) cat nights."
A little boy here in Oregon, USA, was lost in the woods and spent a cold night alone. Rescuers said he would have perished if not for his large dogs. One rescuer stated on camera, "It truly was a three dog night."
"I search for cats in artwork always; I adore art museums."
I never knew how wonderful an art museum could be until I lived in Minneapolis for two years and discovered the Minneapolis Art Institute. On a worldwide scale, I'm sure it's modest, but it meant so very much to me.
"Wow, I didn't know Drew Barrymore said the same thing I have."
I found it shocking that she would say it because so many people would think she was nuts. Of course, when you and I say it, a lot of people think we're nuts too, but we're not going to be getting thousands of hate mails, and our words aren't going to affect our livelihoods. This is why I so admire her for saying it. Peggy and I play backgammon daily, and we have a snack when we do. Our board is lit by a light that makes every cat hair in our food stand out. I was shocked to realize how many cat hairs we eat, but I also like the idea of my body gaining sustenance from their bodies. To me, there's a holiness about it that isn't found in the celebratory occasions you mentioned in your next comment because on those occasions, animals that could still be alive are dead, and not only do people refuse to consider their bodies holy, they make bad jokes about how ugly and stupid turkeys are.
"All I see, in the humans gathered about the table, is a bunch of wild animals, salivation dripping from fangs, about to tear into some hapless victim of their hunger."
Then there's the obscenity of the "presidential pardoning" of a single turkey that, despite his presumed crimes, is supposedly allowed to live out his life in a peaceful environment while millions of his fellows are slaughtered. The older I become, the less I like my species, which is why it is so important to me that I believe in the goodness of people like yourself.
"when people gather around a carcass then pray to their gods"
I suppose there's some good in having a moment of solemnity prior to hours of loud talk, gluttony, and violent sports on TV, but the prayer is just one more thing that people like you and I are excluded from, our values being in opposition to their values.
"Such wonderfully beautiful kitty art, purrfect!"
Yes, it is beautiful, but it's also true that, in the children's portraits, cats were portrayed in a way that justified the belief of many that they were wicked. I think one would have to look far to find dogs similarly portrayed, although they too are predators--are are humans for that matter, the difference being that cats have to eat meat and we don't.
I've always loved depictions of cats in works of art from all over the world, and over so many centuries. You are so right ... Cats ARE art. :)
ReplyDeleteJust found this and am so glad. I love cats and these are very classical pictures. Life was hard for humans when a couple of those pictures were painted. Kind of sad. Your 2032 vision of the future is a bit grim too. I hope it does not end that way. "And the best that you can hope for Is to die in your sleep"
ReplyDelete"I've always loved depictions of cats in works of art from all over the world, and over so many centuries."
ReplyDeleteMe too.
"Life was hard for humans when a couple of those pictures were painted."
The fact that two of these rich children died young suggests the high childhood mortality rate of the era. On the other hand, the Graham parents were so wealthy that they had Hogarth make paintings of their children like parents of our youth made snapshots (some of today's parents make thousands upon thousands of snapshots). I don't believe that anyone deserves that level of wealth, so I would agree with the bumper sticker proclamation, "Eat the rich," if I were not, by worldwide standards, rich myself. After all, I own a car and a 1,250 square house; I no longer have to work; I have government retirement and insurance benefits; and I have enough money squirreled away that I hope to be financially secure until I die. Hence, while I'm not rich by US standards, I'm swimming in wealth by worldwide standards.
"And the best that you can hope for Is to die in your sleep"
Before having suffered much.
Beautiful kitties and lovely history. We've watched some old shows that depict how hard times were centuries ago. There were rich or poor. It seemed there was no in between.
ReplyDeleteThank you for joining the Feline Friday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous day and week. ♥
Centuries ago, life was unbearable, because one never knew if they were going to die from smallpox or the plague or an infection that needed antibiotics, and they didn't know if their kids will live. And these were the lucky ones, the ones that only worried and didn't grieve.
ReplyDeleteSo back in the days, animals were treated badly and neglected. It's nice to know some people knew how to appreciate cats and beauty even in those hard times.
"We've watched some old shows that depict how hard times were centuries ago. There were rich or poor. It seemed there was no in between."
ReplyDeleteYet, the rich also died young, not having drugs and treatments that save so many lives today.
"Centuries ago, life was unbearable, because one never knew if they were going to die from smallpox or the plague or an infection that needed antibiotics, and they didn't know if their kids will live."
I don't know but what if those people from long ago could return and visit our culture that they wouldn't feel as sorry for us as we feel for them because they had compensations which we lack. It's also true that there are places in our modern world where things are as bad as they were for those people from long ago. We can only judge long ago peoples by standards that are ours but perhaps were not their own.