October 5, 1557

Francesco Bachiacca (March 1, 1494 to October 5, 1557) was a Florentine painter. The Met has  Bachiacca's version of the classical story of Leda and the Swan. What we see in this charming picture is great humor: an old story seen from the perspective of a domestic aftermath.

It is possible that there is the same humor, but one we now don't get the joke of, in his  "Portrait of a Young Lady Holding a Cat." This is, for the Renaissance, a pose so uncommon as to need an explanation. I am guessing those who first saw this painting, laughed, to see an elegant lady, cuddling, not a little dog, but a rat-catcher.