Kattenconcert 1655 - 1700

Jan van Somer’s etching, "Kattenconcert," presents a chaotic scene, dominated by the central motif of a cat being tormented by children, while a drunken man holds it. The cat, a potent symbol, here embodies vulnerability and suffering. Consider the image of animals in distress throughout art history – from the sacrificial lamb in religious iconography to the hunted deer in classical mythology. The emotional response it evokes transcends time. Notice the woman on the right, arms raised in alarm, seemingly powerless to stop the cruelty. This gesture echoes the ancient motif of the "impossibility of intervention," seen across cultures in depictions of martyrdom and injustice. The torment inflicted upon the cat can be seen as a mirror to societal anxieties and unresolved traumas. The act embodies a primal human impulse to project pain onto the powerless. This deeply embedded, often subconscious, tendency resurfaces in art across eras, as a raw expression of human vulnerability and the cyclical nature of suffering.