Haas en kat before 1650

Antonio Tempesta created this print called Haas en kat with etching in the late 16th or early 17th century. The print presents a hare next to a cat-like animal, each in its own little rectangle. Tempesta was a Florentine artist working at a time when natural history was a popular subject. Here, he’s less interested in scientific accuracy, and more in using imagery to create meaning. In the early modern period, animals were frequently used to symbolize human characteristics. These symbolic associations were not fixed; for example, the hare was associated both with fertility and with cowardice. The cat could be associated with liberty, or with female spite. What might it mean to place these animals side by side? Were they meant to be understood as opposites? Or as creatures with similar traits? To answer these questions, one could look at emblem books and other illustrated books popular in the period. Only by understanding the cultural context can we begin to interpret a work like this.