The Cat

The Cat

I chase after the she-cats in the Egyptian Antiquities department (Sully, room 332). I say she-cats and not he-cats, without really knowing why. Perhaps it’s because of the feminine noun in the title of Colette’s novel La Chatte, one of my favorites. Or because one of the Egyptian cats is clearly a mother with her kitten, tiny, cute, clinging to her back. I interpret the others accordingly. These cats from the sixth century BCE resemble ours in every respect. They are our queens and tomcats, lying in wait, at rest, represented with all the realism and attention that the love of pets can summon. These cats, and the many cat sarcophagi as well, show us the permanence of humankind, our unity across thousands of years. The Louvre, by its extreme diversity, contains a lesson in universality. That is what the cats of the Late Period of ancient Egypt have taught me.