Cats in Art: Last Supper (Rosselli)

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.  

The bride and I recently returned from a couple weeks in Europe, the trip of a lifetime.  We first took a Rhine River cruise downstream from Basel, Switzerland to Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Then we remained 3 more days each in Amsterdam and Rome.  While in Europe, my Cats in Art became a sort of quest for us and the others of our group, so the next few weeks here on Sundays will be focused on our kitty discoveries in the Old World.

Today's subject is from the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, a place that figuratively knocked my artistic socks off.  Of the large crew of artists who were commissioned to liven up the place with their art, Michaelangelo's frescos on the ceiling get a lot of attention. deservedly so, but the wall art also is mind-numbing beautiful.  That's where you'll find Last Supper by Rosselli.

In the image below I cropped out some of the edges that were painted to look like the framing of a traditional painting, just to focus on the core image:

Image credit Wikipedia, The Last Supper, Cosimo Rosselli, 1482, fresco (oil on plaster), 11' x 18', held by the Vatican as part of the Sistine Chapel.  The cat is in the right center foreground, scrapping with a dog, but pretty small in this huge fresco, so here's the close-up of the kitty:

Wiki explains the symbology:

The scene is part of the Stories of Jesus cycle and, like the others, shows more than an episode at the same time. The frieze has the inscription REPLICATIO LEGISEVANGELICAEA CHRISTO. The supper is set in a semi-circular apse, with a horseshoe-shaped table at whose center sits Jesus, sided by the apostles. Judas, as usual, is depicted on the side, from behind: the fighting cat and dog are elements which further stress his negative connotation. The scene shows the moment immediately after Jesus' annunciation that one apostle would betray him. His hearers' reactions include touching their own chest, or mumbling one with each other.

I wonder if Rosselli had a particular cat that served as the model for this painting, or if it was just a compilation of felines?  I like to think that there was this one kitty, who hung out at the Vatican, and who Rosselli befriended and painted into art immortality.

Note: I posted about this piece previously back in 2011, here.  But now I've seen it with my own eyes....

Cats in Art: Last Supper (Rosselli)

My PC is dying, can't easily compose, edit etc.  So here's a repost from 3 years ago...still a goodie!

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Sunday, March 13, 2011

Cats in Art: Last Supper (Rosselli)

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.

Two weeks ago I put up another version of the Last Supper, by Huguet. Last week, same subject, that time by Domenico Ghirlandaio.  This week, again the same topic (didn't those guys have any other ideas?), this time with the cat in the right foreground having an altercation with a dog.

Image credit here.  From Zuffi:

Last Supper, 1482
Fresco, 111.5' x 7.3', Sistine Chapel, Vatican City
  

It is to Cosimo Rosselli that we are indebted for the presence of a cat in Catholicism's most sacred place, the space in which the most solemn papa; ceremonies, including papal conclaves, are held...This is without doubt one of the most suggestive and realistic images of a cat in art from the second half of the fifteenth century.  The color of its fur, with its gray and white stripes, and its aggressive pose toward the dog--which seems to want to steal the cat's bone--all hint at the new cultural significance that the cat, now freed from its medieval heritage, has acquired in humanist culture.

I just like the cat.  It's feisty!

 

Cats in Art: Last Supper (Rosselli)

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.

Two weeks ago I put up another version of the Last Supper, by Huguet. Last week, same subject, that time by Domenico Ghirlandaio.  This week, again the same topic (didn't those guys have any other ideas?), this time with the cat in the right foreground having an altercation with a dog.
 
Image credit here.  From Zuffi:
 
Last Supper, 1482
Fresco, 111.5' x 7.3', Sistine Chapel, Vatican City
 

It is to Cosimo Rosselli that we are indebted for the presence of a cat in Catholicism's most sacred place, the space in which the most solemn papa; ceremonies, including papal conclaves, are held...This is without doubt one of the most suggestive and realistic images of a cat in art from the second half of the fifteenth century.  The color of its fur, with its gray and white stripes, and its aggressive pose toward the dog--which seems to want to steal the cat's bone--all hint at the new cultural significance that the cat, now freed from its medieval heritage, has acquired in humanist culture.

I just like the cat.  It's feisty!