We've often posted about medieval art and imagery, particularly illuminations and marginalia that scribes used to decorate manuscripts. We laugh at the ridiculous use of snails and rabbits, but there are oh, so many cats. And they all look goofy, as if they were cartoon drawings plopped down in the middle of careful portraits of people and dogs (and rabbits).
“In the Medieval period, animals were understood to be the mirror of human society,” historian Damien Kempf, who is writing a book on Medieval depictions of animals, told me. “Even though animals were believed to be irrational beings, they were given human traits and characteristics.” Dogs, for example, were lauded for being loyal companions, created to guard the house and assist in the hunt.
Cats? Not so much.
“Sources emphasize the rather unruly nature of cats,” Kempf said. “Unlike dogs, cats cannot be trained to be loyal and obedient. As one author complains, they will go to whoever gives them food.” So that’s one reason cats probably got such an unflattering edit.
But it's not the only reason. Altogether, medieval artists may have something in common with modern meme makers- as funny as cats are, we love to make them funnier. Read more on this subject at Medium, and you'll see some funny cats. -via Digg
