Persian Art

Muslims regard the cat with favor because it was the pet of Muhammad, but there is no tradition of representational art in Islam.

Therefore, cat images from the Middle East - where cats were plentiful and longhaired cats evolved - are extremely rare. Only a few small figurines, paintings on tiles, and bottles and boxes in the shape of cats have been found.

It is in the works of visiting Western painters that we first see cats lazing luxuriously at the feet of Arab scribes or being fed tasty morsels by Arab women.

However, in the 14th century, anonymous Ottoman artists did paint striking narrative scenes of national folktales and stories from the Bible, often including domestic cats in an incidental role in their tableaus.