Fable illustration: The Cat and the Bat, 1718

Blatt: 77 x 97 mm

Physical Description: Pen and black ink and brush and grey ink, over traces of graphite

Inventory Number: 3152

Object Number: 3152 Z

Status: Request for presentation in the study room of the Prints and Drawings Department

Texts

About the Work

Bernard Picart contributed to shaping the art of book illustration in Amsterdam. The four fable illustrations "The Cat and the Bat" (Inv.-Nr. 3152), "The Gods of Egypt" (Inv-Nr. 3153), "Cupid and Death" (Inv.-Nr. 3155) and "The Friends Who Agreed Too Much" (Inv.-Nr. 3154) are designs for illustrations to a collection of fables. After being punished for eating a bird from its cage, a cat vows never to devour a bird again. When she catches a bat, she pronounces it more mouse than bird and gobbles it down with a clear conscience. In "The Gods of Egypt", a cat is one day elevated to the status of deity and a rat is sacrificed to it. The next day, it is the rat who is venerated and the cat who, complaining bitterly about the fickleness of man, is chosen as an offering.