Cat Crouching on the Ledge of an Artist's Atelier, Gerrit Dou (1657)
In this striking painting Dou portrayed a grey-and-white-striped cat crouching in profile on a stone niche opening into an artist’s studio, a subject that is unique in the artist’s oeuvre. The cat’s individualized character and the specificity of the portrayal suggest that it was modeled after a particular animal. Using a brush consisting of only a few bristles, Dou applied countless minuscule strokes of multicolored paint to create the cat’s plush fur
