Cats in Art: Portrait of the Cat Armellino With a Sonnet by Bertazzi (Reder)

From my continuing weekly Sunday series of cats in art. I'm using some ideas from the coffee table book, The Cat in Art, by Stefano Zuffi.

Click image for larger. Image credit Pinterest.com, here (could not locate any museum or art repro images), Portrait of the Cat Armellino With a Sonnet by Bertazzi , Giovanni Reder, 1750, oil on canvas, 30" x 24", held by Museo di Roma, Rome, Italy.

Zuffi tells us:

Very few cats can boast that they have actually had their portraits painted, that is, that they have been depicted without any allegorical, moralizing, religious, esoteric, or simply decorative intent on the part of the artist....Armellino, wearing an elegant little collar, has literally posed on a luxurious cushion; a sonnet by the abbot Bertazzi has even been dedicated to him.

That's it...my next cat will be Armellino.