Cat Catching a Mouse, Being Caught by a Dog London, British Library, MS Harley 3053 f.56v Decorated Initial c. Perhaps the illuminator was more of a cat person than a dog person.ĥ. This cute lil cat is also clever, and uses what looks like a tree trunk to separate itself from a barking dog. Cat & Dog London, British Library, Additional MS 18684 f. 1300 Īpparently cats like cymbals, too…? Guess Disney’s Aristocats wasn’t too far off the mark.Ĥ. 78v Cat beating a cymbal, from a marginal cycle of images… c. And they say the internet invented funny cat pictures.īaltimore, Walters Art Museum, MS W.102 f. This sketch features a musical cat playing a rebec, which looks to be related to a violin or fiddle.

The owner of this manuscript (the same manuscript where the image from #1 is found) must have really loved cats. Cat Playing a Rebec London, British Library, Harley MS 6563 f. This unfortunate royal kitty, though, is being besieged by its mortal enemies an army of mice!Ģ.

1320-1330 Īnyone who’s encountered a cat knows that they think of themselves as the ruler of their domain. Cat Besieged By Mice London, British Library, Harley MS 6563 f. Inspired by The British Library’s article on medieval Lolcats, we put together our own list of funny medieval cats perfect for the digital age.ġ. And it seems that cats were just as popular in the Middle Ages as they are on the internet today. Why? Cats were common pets for monks who wrote and illuminated a good deal of the manuscripts in medieval Europe.

Interestingly, illuminations featuring cats are quite common during the Middle Ages. Last summer, we ran a post featuring a few art-historical dogs during the “ dog days of summer.” That post, and the fact that we started this year with a blog post about a cat’s art-historical hijinks, mean that it’s high time we showed cats some more love–and medieval cats, specifically.Īrt in medieval western Europe wasn’t on a canvas–it’s found in the parchment pages of illuminated manuscripts.

Bad medieval cat paintings