The Large Cat

From the Minneapolis Institute of Art record

Cornelis Visscher carried the Haarlem tradition of fine engraving into the mid-1600s. He died around age thrity, but still managed to produced nearly 200 engravings during his one-decade career. Though simple in conception, The Large Cat is a masterpiece that seems to invite the viewer to stroke the animal's fur. But that may be our anachronistic reading! Sources repeatedly state that cats were not viewed as pets in 17th-century Holland. They were working animals kept for their ability to control rodents. Oh, no! Is our cat a failure, asleep on the job, sunning itself while the mouse runs amok? Maybe, but perhaps the cat is simply lying in wait. Its ears are pricked and claws protracted. Visscher leaves us the pleasure of deciding what will come next. Netherlands, Europe