The Favourite Cat and De La-Tour Painter
Etcher John Kay British, Scottish
After an engraving by Georg Friedrich Schmidt German
After a self-portrait by Maurice Quentin de La Tour French
Not on view
Kay here caricatures a self-portrait by the French pastellist Maurice Quentin De La Tour (Louvre, 1737). He knew the image through Georg Friedrich Schmidt's engraving, published in Paris in 1747. As in the latter, Kay reversed the pose, so that La Tour now points left rather than right. He also propped the subject's elbow on a book, and added a curled paper at right--containing the date 1813 and Kay's name. More whimsically, an image of the Scottish etcher's cat now sits on an easel, wearing spectacles and a medal inscribed "IK" (for Iohannes Kay). By this means, the source of La Tour's amusement is revealed--something the original pastel leaves to our imagination. In addition, the setting has been transformed into a sunlit room containing a window that offers a city view, and a long table piled with books.
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