2-999-585 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Madonna and Child with a Cat, c1490. This Madonna and Child includes an unexpected visitor - a cat! Rarely depicted in Christian art, cats carry a number of different meanings: since they hunted household pests like vermin and snakes, they were sometimes considered defenders against evil. However, they could also be viewed as sources of evil themselves, on account of their traditional association with witches. Since the cat in this painting appears with the Madonna and Child, it may be a reference to a popular Christian legend claiming that a cat gave birth at the same time that Mary gave birth to Christ. It might also be a heraldic emblem of the family or individual who commissioned the work.