Cats In Medieval Paintings Looked Really Creepy 

I’m sorry but the thought of sitting down next to a rat and writing it hate mail is cracking me up.

damn. the thought of people literally torturing, killing, taking them to court, and blaming cats for every single bad thing ever is horrifying. they’re literally furry babies, sure sometimes they’re assholes but that goes for EVERY species. honestly heartbreaking

People back then: Hanging a pig for eating a wafer suspiciously Also people back then: Kindly writing letters to the rodents in their home asking them to leave

They may look “not right”, still way more right than the mind-melting cgi/live action hypermonstrosities in the film version of Cats.

I remember hearing about the time a pig was hanged in front of a crowd for supposedly murdering a child. They hanged a pig like it was a human for a human crime. Medieval times were BANANAS.

You can't just say Freyja is associated with cats without mentioning that she rides a chariot pulled by cats! That's the best part! 😄😆

I studied medieval history at university and I didn't know about cats getting killed en mass back then. Thanks for the video, it was fun!

people torturing innocent animals sounds a lot more like the devils work than a cat just existing

I remember once reading something about Norse culture in the past, that went like this: newlywed couples were given kittens as presents, because that way Freya would protect their household from harm.

0:21 WHY DOES THIS CAT HAVE A HUMAN NOSE I CANT-

I am a self professed crazy cat lady and have 4. I enjoyed this video thoroughly and was laughing out loud several times. Sad how they have been treated throughout history. But the Leonardo davinci sketches made me so happy. I learned a lot. Thanks for this video!

And this is why I am born at the right time in the right century. Just hearing how people torture those poor cats for something that's not even its fault makes me mad.

omg i'm so glad you mentioned the theory that the church demonizing cats might have led to the bubonic plague! definitely one of my favorite historical theories!

It makes me so upset that there’s were whole events centered around torturing cats😭 I utterly adore cats!

Cats being associated with evil is a trope that’s played with and satirised in Mikhail Bulgakov’s 1930s novel The Master And Margarita, which features a mischievous, gun-toting, cigar smoking anthropomorphic cat named Behemoth who is one of Woland’s closest companions (Woland is basically Satan) After Behemoth and the other demons are done causing chaos in Moscow, the entire populace becomes prejudiced towards black cats, even trying to arrest some, with the book pointing out how ridiculous that is I always found it incredibly fascinating and amusing and couldn’t help but relate it to this video’s topic

I don't know if anyone's told you this yet, but your comedic timing and editing is top notch! That little "pew!" lazer eyes part actually made me laugh out loud!

I think the Bubonic Plague wouldn't have been so spreadable if there was more cats around.

What painting is that at 1:45 ? It’s so cute I wanna buy a print 🥺 Edit: found it online! Its Pierrot and the cat by Théophile Alexandre Steinlen! now just to figure out what the painting at 7:54 is called… Edit again: it’s called Julie Manet with cat! I’m great at googling ayo

Dog: “You love me, take care of me, give me food, a bed and play with me...you must be God”. Cat: “You love me, take care of me, give me food, a bed and play with me...I must God”.

That first medieval cat looks like sir Ian Mckellan in 2019 cats

If you want an animal you want to serve you get yourself a dog or a chicken or whatever. Nobody gets a cat for being served by it. Every cat owner knows, that it's something very special a cat can give you. You won't have an animal that will perform tricks, but you will have a companion that will always love you from its heart and even greats you coming back from work because it missed you. The owner of a cat is usually a not self centered person but he appreciates the great special friendship he's got with it

What a terrible day to have eyes and ears 😔 I had no idea cats were executed in such awful, barbaric ways.

Am I the only one who thinks it's nine kinds of messed up they they still throw cats from the tower, even stuffed ones? They're obviously stand-ins for real cats, and that's horrifying.

YOUR PAINTING REVIEWS ARE SO ONPOINT AND SO INTELLIGENTLY, SENSITIVELY DONE EVEN WHEN THE PAINTING'S SUBJECT MATTER IS NOT. LOVE THIS SO MUCH!

I'm glad I subbed. This video was a treat for art and cat lovers.

Actually, I read that the specific species of wild cats the domestic cat evolved from are in fact not solitary, but live in small family units, making them more social than other species of small wild cats from the start.

Nice video! Are you a cat person? I am. My cat was a bit frightened by that first awful cat picture - as was I. It looked like another of those HORRIBLE restoration jobs done recently by amateurs. But we did enjoy your vid. Thanks for sharing it!

0:28 too much catnip

What is the painting shown at 7:56 called? It is adorable!

That's horrible what they did to cats :'(

ArtDeco… Your reviews of art are masterpieces themselves! You always include auxiliary information and description that serves to elucidate and reinforce! Your sense of humour is also praiseworthy! Kudos and gratitude as always! Please keep up the great work!

Your video series is awesome. You are so great at pointing out details in the paintings, surmising, and giving a ton of background and historical information. I enjoy the editing, the humor, the sound effects, and everything. Regarding this video, I used to go to this vet who used to have a sign in the main office that said, "Every cat owner knows that no one owns a cat."

You. Are. Awesome! I freaking love this channel! Thank you for being so informative yet entertaining at the same time. I find I actually retain the info you're sharing better than I ever would in a traditional classroom setting. I am SO looking forward to more videos :D YOU ROCK!!!!!!

Flouffy little devil-shelters? As a cat owner (and cat lover), I believe that is indeed an accurate observation.

this channel is the most interesting thing I've discovered on RU-vid. The humor and theme is right on point.

You are an excellent story teller - a true gift! I just discovered your channel today and am binge watching!

6:47 Yo hold up... Did it work? 😂

Just awful how humans have roped innocent animals into our fucked up ways. I can’t believe anyone would have ever thought it sane to treat cats that way just horrific😢

i love your videos and i love that you dont wack out your voice to be silly or edgy to catch peoples attention or to compensate.

This is great. Thoroughly enjoyed this video. Loved the kicker at the end. 🙀

Very entertaining and informative. Thank you.

2:44 I was once told that the intention of Egyptian gods' art wasn't intended to communicate they have literal animal heads , but to depict the entity along with symbols of who they are or what they do, thus respecting them by representing the totality of who they are as much as possible. I can't find a definitive source to back this up, but it's a way more interesting interpretation than taking the deities' designs literally.

Ok I LOVE THIS!! I have always wondered this. Can you clarify the reason for the bad portrayal of cats though? I followed you on the history but didn’t catch the conclusion. Was it that cats were killed in such high numbers that the artist couldn’t observe them properly? Or were they expressing their dislike of cats by portraying them badly? Please help, I have to know!

It's similar to how dogs are vilified in Islam. Historians believe it stems from how Zoroastrians(before Islam, Zoroastrianism was one of the more prominent religions in the Middle East) considered dogs as clean and holy, and highly regarded. Because of this, Islam decided to make them unclean, and would even beat a Zoroastrians' dog to manipulate the owner.

What We Do In The Shadows references a couple things mentioned in this video- the movie suggests human-faced cats in paintings had something to do with Vladislav being unable to change his humanoid face when transformed, while the TV show mentions Laszlo was a lawyer for pigs. I mostly watch the show for the funny vampires, but I admit all the historical references make me laugh, too.

If it turns out cats have been controlling our minds for centuries and have trained us to serve them, then I’m ok with that. Cats deserve everything.

That cat in the thumbnail honestly has a great meme potential lol

Poor kitty cats. People had serious issues to do those things to them. Thanks for the video.

Good video, 2 cats live in my house and let me wait on them.

So basically people are just stupid. This is why I love cats more then people.

Bravo young lady! Your excellent “art history” series is in my top ten.✌️

I've been a subscriber for a long time. My husband and I love cats and he really enjoyed this video. Well done!

0:35 neither of two option, I though someone other painted the cats face in a prank or jealousy since the face doesn't line up with the rest of the head

01:11 my dog is a time traveller.... I would recognise that vacant expression anywhere.

This was so entertaining and enlightening. Thank you, and bravo 👏

Paula Allmand here: New to your channel & I must say that I love you kiddo!!! Especially this particular episode. I have 2 cats but would love more. I also have a ghost kitty as well. She’s my poor kitty who had to be put to sleep. She decided she wanted to go home & I saw her spirit as it arrived. Since getting my newest kitty (5 yrs.later) she has become very active. I loved this explanation of why cats were so persecuted down through the ages.

This was lots of fun! I would love to see how the stigmata was represented in art. In some examples, it looks like the saint is flying a Jesus kite.

The Church did not even believe in witchcraft in medieval times. Not until the mid- 15th century, (the very end of the high middle ages) with the publication of Malleus Maleficarum. Before that they just thought it was silly and ineffective. Though they did treated animals in court like people in medieval times.

Your videos! Are so underrated! After the babies video I hoped you would cover this lol

the idea of taking animals to court is somehow funny to me "Oinky McPigson, how do you plead?" "Oink?" "That's all I need to hear, prepare the fire pit!"

In Brehms Tierleben (one of the first biology encyclopedias) he wrote that 'in order to stop a fire consuming a house you ought to throw a Calico cat into the flames' since they are the ruler of flames or some stupid thing. Sad times for cats and really any animal to be alive...

3:45 yet, you can't write catholic without cat

Great art and presentation, thank you.

I freaking love your sense of humor. Your informative and hilarious 🤣

I never understood the hatred for cats except that maybe people just don't understand they aren't really domesticated. Interesting to see how much deeper that goes. I'm a crazy cat lady and a neopagan. My favorite goddess is Freya and I got a huge smile when you mentioned her! Cats are really wonderful; you just have to understand them from their POV.

In Denmark we still have the tradition (fastelavn), but in these days they use candy in the barrel instead of a cat and children dressed up in costumes will hit it with a bat (one at a time) until it breaks and candy comes out. We also call it "to hit the cat off the barrel" / at slå katten af tønden. We have also kept another tradition, called Sankt Hans, where a doll of a witch is burned - bizarre traditions....

Love this! Great channel!

*These videos are always so damn interesting i love studying the art-*

I like dogs and cats equally because even if they both control our minds, using chemicals nowaddays they are still both simply animals that love us. :)

Thanks!! I love your show so much!!

Fiery poo! Lol! Reminds me of that hilarious hippo poo flinging video that went viral a while back!! 😆

“Nurturing, yet ferocious” is my personal motto.

Could even be a possibility that the abolishment of cats in medieval homes meant a better success for rats and mice and therefore the Black Pest.

I really enjoyed your video! So entertaining and informative

What appropriate timing, 😆 because I watched the bonus short and episode 11 of Sandman on Netflix yesterday. A Dream of a Thousand Cats...

1:45 incorrect. the ancestors of house cats actually live in groups. this is why they were able to become pets in the first place. no matter what you do to a member a fully solitary species, it will never be fully tame.

It's like the weird old babies in paintings

Great video! I absolutely adore medieval cats! The doofier the better!

I remember when we visited our friends in Ypres as a kid I was so excited about the idea of a cat celebration until they told us about the throwing cat part and now I can’t look at the tower the same any time I visit😭

The whole black cat thing is why I have one - she’s a bit of a brat lol, but I love her. She’s spunky, and my other cat is super cuddly. They balance out

I love the idea of a cat playing the bagpipes!!

That was great, thanks! 😸

i love ur videos so much they’re so cool

Can someone PLEASE give me the source for the adorable kitten painting at 0:58 ??

Judging from the accurate outline, I would guess that this is likely due to a bad restoration rather than the failure of the original artist.

This is a perfect example of a question i had being perfectly mind read by youtubes algorithm. Thanks for this!

Nice editing

Cats likely had to literally evolve to have those parasites just to get humans to stop hunting them, I bet. 😭😭 Yet strangely enough, a gamer and dog lover who didn't really like cats ended up liking cats too after merely playing a video game about a cat, all while completely not in physical contact with an actual cat. Which I found very intriguing. So the parasite thing might not be the case at all all the time. 🤔

Poor cats, they are so lovely!

The cat in the thumbnail is the embodiment of 'WHOA MAN. That catnip hit HARD.' And suddenly the random 'beating a cat against the wall' jokes in The Holy Grail make a LOOOT more sense now.

i rly like how mutch art u show in yhe videos

Cats in 2019 Hollywood movies looked really creepy, too.

0:04 Gus. Is the... cat. Atthetheaterdoor.

Subbed. Love your content

Cats have always been looked at because of how they look into your eyes. They are captivating and people seem to think they can see our soul. I think they're poised and graceful.

The thought of just putting a cat in jail like it knows what it done wrong 😂 and writing to rats lol i know they didnt have modern knowledge but thats rediculous

Your thumbnail cat painting was taken from my blog and is from a junk shop in CT. Not medieval, lol.

Fabulous,thank you.

I do like this channel so.. Just brilliant

The general attitude towards cats varies wildly across cultures; though that was a really good, concise 'brief history' for European beliefs ... the bloody church! 🙄 It's even more distilled once you get into specific Lore regarding colours of cat ie Black Cats = bad luck, varies enormously across cultures. Europe may (at one time) have had it in for all cats, as "demon shelters" (lmao) or witches familiars, but it took the Americans to really stick it to black cats! (Not exclusively American, but certainly culturally specifically.) I've heard of the ban on adoptions during Halloween in America - because, apparently, people would adopt them PURELY to harm, or kill them; though the very idea STILL blows my mind. It seems to have crept into a lot of 'popular culture' via American movies and TV, and shown up in places where the opposite belief has held true. I'm in Australia, and there was never a standard belief either way, as a lot of early colonisation was from England, Ireland and Scotland, and black cat superstitions varied by region. I'd say that there's probably been a slight swing to the American superstition over the last 20-30 years? And I blame that entirely on the flood and ubiquity, of American entertainment. Here? I still think the majority of people would say their attitude was in line with personal experience? 'Though, one Halloween, a Mum from down the street brought her children Trick-or-Treating, the little girl was about 5. The Mum was impressed that the little one had come to the door, because she called my house 'the scary cat house!' I really had to think, but finally asked if it was because she'd seen 2 of my (3, indoor ONLY) cats sunbathing in the front windows - the 2 black cats? The Mum wasn't 100% percent sure, but guessed that was why, and also that she'd probably gotten the idea from TV, as it hadn't come from her. Dangerously negative attitudes and beliefs certainly haven't gone away, and whether 'art' is the cause, or simply the messenger - it still plays a big part.