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Gatto

Ptolemaic Period
332–30 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 899
Durante il Medio Regno in Egitto i gatti venivano per lo più raffigurati come cacciatori allo stato brado. Non appaiono come animali domestici fino all’epoca del Nuovo Regno. A partire dall’Epoca tarda si diffuse l’usanza di seppellire i gatti mummificati all’interno dei confini dei templi, in particolare quelli dedicati alla dea Bastet. Questo oggetto, utilizzato per accogliere la mummia di un gatto, illustra la raffinata qualità dei doni offerti agli dei. Un abile fabbro ha saputo forgiare l’immagine seducente di un gatto dall’agile muscolatura, le lunghe zampe eleganti e lo sguardo attento. Il cerchio d’oro oggi perduto che si trovava nel foro dell’orecchio e la collana incisa con il ciondolo tutelare a forma d’occhio ne sottolineavano ulteriormente il carattere di animale sacro.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Titolo: Gatto
  • Periodo: Epoca tolemaica e macedone
  • Data: 332-30 a.C.
  • Materiale e tecnica: Bronzo, piombato
  • Dimensioni: Alt. 27,4 cm
  • Crediti: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1956
  • Numero d'inventario: 56.16.1
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

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Cat Statuette intended to contain a mummified cat - Ptolemaic Period - The Metropolitan Museum of Art