Ever tried to paint a cat? It turns out that it’s not as easy as you might expect. It indeed wasn’t for these Medieval artists anyway! While they excelled at painting religious scenes, portraits of Royalty, and naked ladies, this particular type of pussy offered an altogether different challenge.
There are a couple of reasons why these funny cats look as they do in the Medieval art depictions. One of them is that the primary purpose of these paintings was to translate the religious scripts to the illiterate (bear in mind that there were relatively few people who could read - monks, priests, and the nobility), and the other, unnecessary details weren't so scrupulously painted.
On the other hand, linear perspective, giving a painting depth, was not systemized until the Italian Renaissance. That's why the given ugly cats look so flat and slightly misshapen.
While most of them have got the basic shape of a feline down to a reasonable tee in these cat illustrations, it is the face that seems to provide the biggest problem. Instead of the cute kitten features we all know and love, the artists instead appear to favor a grim, almost human-like look that makes these cat paintings look a bit, well, scary. I guess the drawings do prove, though, that we have been obsessed with sharing cat memes since way before the internet!
Scroll down to check out the list of Medieval funny cat memes compiled by Bored Panda below, and don’t forget to vote for your favorites!
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Yeah... Fish Is Not Gonna Work, You'll Have To Try Harder
Done With Life
What A Cutie
White Cat
Melancholic Cat Plays The Lyre
Cat With Eyebrows
Hey Cat. Stop Licking Your Butt On The Book Of Maccabees Or You’ll Get An Arrow
Genius. I hope the guy who drew her got a good long laugh--all the way to his next 7-year transcription
The True King
This Must Be A Cat From The Hallucinogenic Meadows Of Scotland
This Cat Is Starring Into Your Soul
I Know I Don't Want To Know What These Two Just Saw
This Bathing Cat
Yeah Frank, I'm taking a bath, so what?! paint a picture, it'll last longer! oh...
The Cat You Cannot Unsee
I Want To Have Whatever That Cat Is Having
Look At Those Lovely Eyes
Casual Cat Life
This Bishop Cat
Medieval Cheshire Cat
Is This A Cat, A Dog Or A Boar?
The One And Only Love
Cat Rider
Defiant Cat Riding A Horse
I Has Mowse
Nativity Scene
Snailcat
Zombie Petting A Cat
This Looks Like A Lizard Pretending To Be A Cat
Catnip Trip
Magpie Inspecting The Cat’s Butt
Catsnail
Medieval OMG Cat
Wild Cats
I think they are weasels. I thought that the one in the tree was the body of one turned into some abominable object of worship at first, but it is a weasel getting some bird eggs.
Because Why Shouldn't A Cat Be Playing A Stringed Instrument?
Cat Churning Butter
Cats’ Habits
Bipedal Cat Monsters Eating A Leech?
That Kitten Is Not... Ok
A Feline With The Blues
I Can Has A Spindle?
Cloaked And Flower-Tailed Feline
Queen Cat And A Monkey Pope Tripping Balls?
Monkey Hugging A Kitten - No Wonder The She Took It As Her Own
Why do they put so many monkeys with the cats? Is it because monkeys used to be common as pets?
Medieval Cat Or The Ouroboros? 'Tis The Catouroboros
Alien Cat
White Cat
Winged Cross-Eyed Kitteh
Butt Licking Cat
He Hates Meeces To Pieces
Classic Cat And Mouse Relationship
Hudy-Gurdy Cat
Someone Please Take That Kitten Out Of It's Misery
Floral Border Cat
The King Of The Cats... Or Maybe Demons That Went Through A Food Processor?
Initial Cat
Drumming Cat
Yo listen up here’s a story... Bout a little guy that’s blue, inside and outside Blue his house, with a blue little window
Marginal Kitten
Devil And The Cat Worshippers Kissing The Cat’s Butt
Kissing A Cat
Mouse Holder
Keyboard Cat
I always wonder, though, what people in the future will think about Garfield. He doesn't exactly look like a cat either, but he fits into the stylistic aesthetic of our age. Maybe these are just medieval Garfields.
Maybe all the munks/painters where just having fun, thinking about how we would énterprit the paintings 1000 years later.... I love your theory :)
Load More Replies...I always wonder, though, what people in the future will think about Garfield. He doesn't exactly look like a cat either, but he fits into the stylistic aesthetic of our age. Maybe these are just medieval Garfields.
Maybe all the munks/painters where just having fun, thinking about how we would énterprit the paintings 1000 years later.... I love your theory :)
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