You might think that the Internet invented cat pictures, but in truth, cats have appeared in art since they decided they would tolerate being around us. Cats appear as hunters, as pampered pets, and at differing times in history as symbols of lust or betrayal, of witchcraft and the nature of women, or even of fertility and domesticity. 

So to celebrate World Cat Day, here’s a selection of cat pictures you might not have seen before…

Images: Mural of a cat eating fish under a chair from the tomb of Nakht, 15th century BC, copied by Norman de Garis Davies, via Wikimedia Commons.

The goddess Freyja, riding in her cat-pulled chariot, Manual of Mythology : Greek and Roman, Norse, and Old German, Hindoo and Egyptian Mythology, plate XXXVII, by Alexander Murray. 1865, via Wikimedia Commons.

Embroidered panel, by Mary Queen of Scots, c. 1569-84, Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2022.

Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, attributed to John de Critz, 1603, via Wikimedia Commons.

Portrait of Magdaleine Pinceloup de la Grange, née de Parseval, by Jean-Baptiste Perronneau, 1747, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Happy Family, attributed to Louis Le Nain, 1642, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Cat’s Lunch, by Marguerite Gérard, c.late 18th century/early 19th century, via Wikimedia Commons.

Cats Suggested as The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, 1850, via Wikimedia Commons.