Due to the influence of religion on medieval painting in Europe, the medieval painting was rich in religious imagery and symbolism. In medieval art, primary attention was given to depicting religious figures, religious stories, and scenes from the afterlife. Early Christian paintings began to appear during the early medieval period, quickly progressing to Gothic art during the later period. A transition also took place from Roman art to Byzantine art during the early medieval period as Christianity had become more dominant.
Why do Medieval cat paintings look so weird?
Medieval artists were excelled in paintings, and they have created masterpieces in the history of art such as Carolingian Evangelist portrait, Bamberg Apocalypse from the Ottonian Reichenau, Mary Magdalene, Trinity, Judith Beheading Holofernes, and many more. However, they were not indeed good in the cats’ paintings. Medieval art depictions of cats have several reasons why they look weird. There were several purposes for these paintings, one of which was translating the religious scripts to the illiterate. This bizarre depiction may partly result from the artistic conventions of the time. Still, it shows how cats were perceived in the medieval period, possibly quite different from the loving companion animals we see today. Even though they’ve got the basic shapes of cats down to a tee in these cat illustrations, the face seems to pose the biggest challenge. Artists instead favor a grim, almost human-like look that makes the characters look a little scary instead of the adorable, feline features we are so accustomed to seeing. A very different relationship between humans and cats is depicted in these paintings. Cats have been viewed differently across time and space by different cultures. Cats were known to have been kept as family pets in Ancient Egypt, but the animal may have represented the Sun god. During the Middle Ages, cats were associated with witchcraft, which may explain their treatment during this time. From a religious perspective, medieval people viewed nature, and only humans, not animals, were considered divinely created.
Below are some of the cursed Medieval cat paintings. Vote your favorites.
