Throughout art history, there are many different time periods such as Roman, Egyptian and Gothic art. Most of the art history I am not interested in except for Egyptian art. The reason for this is because growing up my uncle often used to watch the history channel when I was home alone and often times I used to watch with him. While watching the history channel with my uncle I started to become interested in Egypt. Therefore when I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art I decided to choose an art piece from the Egyptian section. There were so many art pieces to choose from I had a hard time picking one. After spending a good amount of time at the Egyptian section I had decided to choose the Cat Statuette intended to contain a mummified cat that was constructed by Harris Brisbane Dick Fund in 1956. The Statue is mostly in good condition when I was observing it. On the back of the cat, there are little pieces of where leaded bronze is peeling off. Besides that, the whole statue is in great condition.
The figure of the cat statue is in 3d. The size of the cat is larger than the average cats we see on a daily basis. While I was looking at the statue I had noticed that the eyes of the cat where closed. I think the reason for that maybe is to show that the cat was in a very peaceful state of mind. When looking at this cat statue it stands out the fact that the cat seems muscular especially the upper and back side of the cat. The muscular aspect of the cat adds volume to the art piece. The sculpture of the cat mostly shows the realism of cats we see in our everyday life. The parts of the cat that are not realistic are the height of the cat and the fact the cast is very muscular. This statue is a good example of figurative art because of the animal being depicted is a cat. The art piece could also be considered representational art because a cat is something that everyone can recognize.
The subject in this statue is clearly a cat. The cat was a sacred animal of an Egyptian goddess whose name was Bastet. Since the cat was a sacred animal it was probably very important in the religious lifestyle of Egypt. The cat’s posture and the way it is standing shows the cat’s dominance and how it is important. The statue was a container for a mummified cat. The long legs of the cat symbolize how the cat is powerful.
The time period of this cat was from 332-30 B.C. the period style during this time was the Ptolemaic. The Ptolemaic period had started when Alexander the Great had taken control of Egypt in 332 B.C. During the 300 years the Ptolemaic period had lasted there were interactions between Greek art and Egyptian Art. Cats were domesticated because of their abilities to hunt mouses. Cats were first domesticated by the Egyptians during the Middle Kingdom. By the New Kingdom, the cats had started to become household companions.
Value of art is always changing because of the material that is used in the art is always changing. The material that was used for this statue of the cat was bronze. When I went to the Metropolitan Museum I had seen a lot of sculptures that were made out of bronze. The importance of the art material is something valued in all art pieces in the past and the present and the same can be said for all the future artworks that will be made.
To me, the definition of art is a message or an idea sent from the painting or sculpture to whoever is viewing the artwork. Also, art has a definition that varies differently from person to person. I feel that an artist can send out many different emotions to a person then any words can. Art can be more powerful than any message that is said with words. Art can be a solution to people who struggle to get their message heard by others because they don’t know the proper words to use. The statue of the cat that was created teaches us viewers about how during the Egyptian time period of the Ptolemaic that the cats were considered sacred and were very more important to their religious beliefs.
