Hancock Shaker Village

This chapter demonstrates the opposing narratives of wild and tame toward cats in Genesis and The Book of Revelation. The notion of “wildness” slandered both large and small cats in the works of late Medieval and early Renaissance religious depictions of Eden. Cats were represented in a myriad of symbolic postures and gestures as duplicitous in myth, biblical narrative and contemporary thought. Beliefs regarding Eve’s sexual transgressions were gleaned from scriptural and dogmatic sources that influenced these artistic choices. The strategies artists employed unwittingly fettered the “cat” as an emblem of misogyny, informing cultural attitudes toward both women and cats. So much so, that the use of cats’ bodies, skins, and hides, became emblematic conventions for human depravity. Conversely, in opposition to the Genesis narratives, cats were viewed as peaceful through a humanist lens in eschatological Christian apologetics.