Cats in Art: Christ in the House of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus (Bassano)

From my continuing weekly Sunday series of cats in art.  Having moved on from Stefano Zuffi's marvelous work, The Cat in Art, I am now using some ideas from Caroline Bugler's equally impressive book, The Cat/3500 Years of the Cat in Art.

Today I feature another painting by Jacopo Bassano, the second week in a row:

Image credit Wikimedia Commons, Christ in the House of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, Jacopo Bassano, 1577, oil on canvas, 39" x 50", held by Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX.

And of course we need a close up of the kitty down there in the lower left:

The beleaguered cat seems about ready to nail that pesky dog who is menacing the cat's food dish.  The poor canine has no idea who he is dealing with...the cat of Jacopo Bassano, famous painter!

Other than the kitty, this painting is quite interesting for its darkness and gloom, although the subject matter should be happy: Christ raising Lazarus from the dead.  Perhaps the miracle has not yet happened and poor Laz is still dead; yet there's a bunch of food around that seems to indicate a feast.

Big time darkness and gloom....thank goodness for the happy ray of light created by the cat!

Gary note: With my Cats in Arts posts, I encourage you to scope out the art appreciation site Artsy (I have no financial interest in the site, I just like it), where you can explore many aspects of the world of art.  You'll certainly be entertained and enlightened!