The miniature portrait of a cat called Kitten: Or modernity doesn’t purr

Abstract

While before the advent of photography, miniature portraits were a favorite means of preserving the memory of our dearly beloved, the modality almost disappeared during the 20th century.  The miniature portrait of a cat called Micetto (“Kitten” in Italian), ordered in 1917 by its former owner, Brazilian ambassador and writer Carlos Magalhães de Azeredo, distraught by the death of his favorite pet, is a rare example of the survival of this technique. This object, both intimate and sophisticated, allows us to glimpse into the lives of the Belle Époque cosmopolitan elites, and to assess the strong emotional impact of this type of portraits during the reign of “modernity”.