Kat liggend op de rug en los pootje 1646 - 1672

Adriaen van de Velde captured this peculiar tableau of a cat, belly-up, with a paw casually extended, using pen in grey and brown, brush in grey and brown and brown ink. Here, the open mouth is the focal point. It reminds us that cats have been culturally loaded symbols, once worshipped as deities in ancient Egypt, and later demonized in medieval Europe. The wide-open mouth echoes the Gorgon Medusa's scream. Her visage, meant to ward off evil, was co-opted, shifting from apotropaic to malevolent. Consider the work of Goya who tapped into a primal fear, portraying cats in ominous scenarios, linking them to witchcraft and the subconscious fears. This cat, though seemingly benign, stirs something similar, it is an emotional catalyst. The symbol of the cat evolves, surfaces in different forms, yet retains a fragment of its potent emotional charge, doesn't it?