• English
  • Русский
  • Cats and Arrt
  • Gallery
  • Shop
  • About this site
  • Contacts

Man and Cat Portrait: the Cat and Duke of Urbino

Man and cat portrait, that is a popular tendency in Internet photos, especially on Tumblr. Do you know that this theme existed much earlier in the time of the Renaissance? Here We, Zarathustra the Cat, reveal hidden for centuries second Diptych of Urbino: Portraits of the Duke of Urbino and his Cat by Piero Della Francesca:

Piero Della Francesca, Portraits of the Duke and Cat of Urbino

Piero Della Francesca, Portraits of the Duke and Cat of Urbino

Just compare this masterpiece to the famous first Urbino Diptych by Piero Della Francesca, to be found  in Uffizi Gallery:

Portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino by Piero della Francesca

Portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino, Federigo da Montefeltro and his wife Battista Sforza, by Piero Della Francesca

Portraits of Federigo da Montefeltro and his wife Battista Sforza was created after Battista’s death. That is why she looks so beautiful but so lifeless. The husband and wife are separated not only in colors but by the frame also. Though they look at each other, they cannot talk because she is in another world.
Now nobody knows, that after Battista passed away, Federigo found consolation in taking care of her beloved Cat. Looking at the Cat, he saw his wife. Though he also couldn’t speak to her, he could speak to the Cat, hug the Cat and feel shared love. We, cats, are mystic entities that can walk by itself between different worlds, and we can connect people separated by time and space.
It was this Our ability that was depicted in the second Urbino Diptych by Piero Della Francesca: Portraits of the Duke of Urbino and his Cat. We remember that We were so tired to sit for the artist in jewel collar and a diadem. The portraits were hidden because people were saying: “Federigo gives too much importance to this cat, it’s really crazy cat sir alert!” It was a cruel time, and people thought that it’s stupid for a serious man to love cats. Maybe dogs and horses, that served for hunt and battle, but not cats, that never were servants. Now, when humans are becoming more and more human, the time to reveal this second Urbino Diptych comes:

Piero Della Francesca, Portraits of the Duke and Cat of Urbino

Piero Della Francesca, Portraits of the Duke and Cat of Urbino

Human, remember: when you look at cat eyes, you can see other worlds.

Thus speaks Zarathustra the Cat.

 

BUY THIS ARTWORK as a CANVAS PRINT or as a POSTER

 

Comments

comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.



Categories

  • Masterrpieces Masterrpieces
    Grreat worrks, grreat arrtists. RReal aRRt.
  • Russian Classics Russian Classics
    We know these works by heart from Our childhood. Or do we just pretend We know?
  • Portrait Portrait
    We know their faces from childhood. What’s new?
  • Still Life Still Life
    Resumes of our postprandial meditations saved for Eternity
  • Moderrn Moderrn
    What art is really modern? Is modern art always contemporary? That is the question…
  • Meowvies Meowvies
    Famous movies improved by cats. We reenact human film stars and make it better
  • Classics Classics
    We studied the painting techniques used in these great works. We are so glad to see them again.
  • The burning issues of our days The burning issues of our days
    Cats in politics, cats in society. How We change everyday world
  • Arrrt CRISPticism Arrrt CRISPticism
    Studies in arrrt theory, trrrends in contemporary arrrt, exhibitions crrronicles

Highlights

Fat Cat Art book: the celebration of the Cat and Art

15 Oct 2020

"Meows in Museums!": Fat Cat Art comes to real life

30 Oct 2016

The Exhibition that shook the world

20 Jun 2014

Who we are

  • “Our life as Mews to the Great Artists We admire” by Zarathustra the Cat

Follow Us!

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on InstagramFollow Us on PinterestFollow Us on YouTubeFollow Us on Tumblr

Artists, museums, projects

Aivazovsky Cats and the City cinema Edgar Degas Edvard Munch Edward Hopper Grant Wood Hermitage Museum Hermitage Museum Hieronymus Bosch Jaques-Lois David Klimt Kunsthistorisches Museum Leonardo da Vinci Louvre MoMA Monet Musee d’Orsay National Gallery of Art Washington National Gallery of Denmark National London Gallery National London Gallery Peter Paul Rubens Pieter Bruegel the Elder Prado Museum Prado Museum public art René Magritte Rijksmuseum Russian Museum Salvador Dali sculpture Tate Gallery The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art Tiziano Tretyakov Gallery Tretyakov Gallery Uffizi Gallery Van Gogh Museum Vatican Museum Velazquez Venetsianov Vincent van Gogh Willem Claesz Heda
© 2011- 2015 - Great Artists' Mews -FatCatArt.com
Site design