Cats in Art: Girl Holding a Dog and Cat (Fragonard)

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.  You really should check out and/or own both of these wonderful works, easily available on Amazon or eBay (and I have no financial interest).

This will be the third of 5 posts on the cat art of Jean-Honore Fragonard.

Image credit The Athenaeum, Girl Holding a Dog and Cat, Jean-Honore Fragonard, ca 1775, 27" x 27", oil on canvas, holder unspecified.

For the third post in a row we see the toy-like kitty with the round face and soft-looking ears.  And despite being held with a dog, literally, the cat seems fairly OK with things.  The batting paw seems equally for balance as for combat with the canine.

The girl appears to be scientifically engrossed, as though she is conducting an animal behavior experiment.  Not surprisingly, the kitty seems to have the upper hand paw.  

[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!]