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Welcome to our cats-hibition!
From sacred to playful, from familiar to symbolic – this exhibition invites you to follow the trail of one of the most fascinating animals in human history: the cat. For thousands of years, cats have captivated human imagination – admired for their cleanliness, respected for their independence, loved as companions, and often surrounded by myth and magic.
The human fascination with cats remains unbroken – especially in the digital age. As of 2025, cats rank among the world’s most popular pets. Depending on the source, between 370 and 600 million cats live in households across the globe. In Germany alone, an estimated 15.2 million domestic cats purr their way through everyday life – roughly one for every five people. That makes Germany the cat capital of the European Union.
Cats share a long and layered history with humans. They were likely first drawn to early agricultural settlements by the promise of prey – and humans quickly recognized their skill as hunters. Over time, cats spread along trade routes and empires, evolving from simple mousers to symbols, companions, deities, and spirits. Their ability to adapt has long inspired artists – and more recently, social media timelines.
This online exhibition presents a selection of remarkable objects from the collections of the Berlin State Museums – each one offering a feline trace in art. It invites visitors on a journey through centuries, regions, and artistic styles. Whether curled up in sleep or captured mid-leap, cats appear in countless artistic expressions. Rarely at the center – but almost always nearby: on manuscripts, vessels, stamps – lurking, listening, alive.
By following their pawprints through time, space, and faith, we gain insight into the evolving relationship between humans and animals – as well as the social and aesthetic practices of past cultures. This exhibition was initiated by the Museum for Islamic Art, whose collection forms its core.
The Many Lives of the Cat!
Our cat exhibition is divided into four galleries – and you’re free to explore them in any order you like. While the focus lies on the collection of the Museum for Islamic Art, other institutions within the Berlin State Museums have also contributed. A fourth gallery, featuring further feline discoveries, will open soon. This is not a comprehensive catalogue of all cat-related art – but rather a playful journey through selected moments of feline presence in art and culture.
A curated bibliography at the end offers suggestions for further reading.
Now step in – and discover the many lives of the cat.
The Everyday Cat
Cats appear not only in poetry and painting – but also in the everyday life of past centuries. This gallery presents two surprising objects of daily use: a clay bread stamp and a bronze incense burner. At first glance they may seem ordinary, yet both carry subtle traces of feline presence – revealing just how deeply cats were woven into everyday rituals.
Pressed into dough or enveloped in scent, these utilitarian items tell stories of how cats became part of cultural practices far beyond their role as pets. Their quiet silhouettes surface where we least expect them – reminding us that even the most ordinary things can carry a touch of feline magic.
The Painted Cat
Those searching for cats in the Museum for Islamic Art’s collection will most often find them on paper – painted or drawn. In manuscripts, and single paintings, the cat appears in many forms: as a casual companion in the background, as a symbolic figure, or simply as a creature of quiet elegance.
To Be - or Not to Be - a Cat
Three enigmatic objects pose exactly this question. Their features seem to hint at feline form: upright ears, curled tails, elegant bodies in mysterious silhouettes. But the closer we look, the less certain we become.
Do we see cats because we want to? Because we expect to? Perhaps because their quiet presence and symbolic power are so deeply rooted in our cultural memory?
Or is someone – or something – playing with our perception? Somewhere between figure and abstraction, imagination and reality?
This gallery invites you to look closely – not just at the objects, but at your own assumptions. For when we ask, “Is this a cat?” we are also asking: How does meaning emerge? And what turns an image into certainty in our minds?
Fur-ther Cats
We're currently working on expanding this section with additional feline finds from across the collections of the Berlin State Museums. Cats have made themselves at home far beyond the Museum for Islamic Art – and we're on their trail.
Stay tuned – this gallery will open its door (or perhaps its cat flap!) very soon.
An online exhibition by Franziska Kabelitz, Farwah Rizvi, Cornelia Weber
Cite this exhibition:
Kabelitz, Franziska, Farwah Rizvi, Cornelia Weber (2025). Cats in the Cabinet: Tracing Feline Presence in the Berlin State Museums. An online exhibition hosted by Islamic·Art, the online portal of the Museum for Islamic Art, Berlin State Museums.
Selected Bibliography / Further Reading
Folsach, Kjeld v. (2001). Art from the World of Islam in the David Collection. Copenhagen: The David Collection (C. L. David Foundation.
Gladiß, Almut v., ed. (2012). Glanz und Substanz. Metallarbeiten in der Sammlung des Museums für Islamische Kunst. Berlin: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Edition Minerva.
Gonnella, Julia, and Jens Kröger, eds. (2015). Wie die islamische Kunst nach Berlin kam. Der Sammler und Museumsdirektor Friedrich Sarre. Berlin: Reimer Verlag.
Goswamy, B.N. (2023). The Indian Cat. Stories, Paintings, Poetry and Proverbs. New Delhi: Aleph Book Company.
Canby, Sheila (1998). Princes, Poets and Paladins: Islamic and Indian Paintings from the Collection of Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan. London: British Museum Press.
Kühn, Miriam, and Martina Müller-Wiener, eds. (2022). Lustre Ceramics – Shimmering Secret. Petersberg: Michael Imhof Verlag.
Kühnel, Ernst, and Hermann Goetz (1924). Indische Buchmalereien aus dem Jahangir-Album der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. Buchkunst des Orients, vol. 2. Berlin: Scarabaeus Verlag.
Malek, Jaromir (2005). The Cat in Ancient Egypt. London: British Museum Press.
Pickeral, Tamsin (2013). The Grace of the Cat: An Illustrated History. London: Francis Lincoln.
Rauch, Christoph (2022). “Im Wettkampf mit den Bibliotheken anderer Nationen”: Der Erwerb arabischer Handschriftensammlungen an der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin zwischen 1850 und 1900.” In: Mangold-Will, Sabine, et al., eds. Sammler – Bibliothekare – Forscher: Zur Geschichte der orientalischen Sammlunge an der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann.
Walker-Meikle, Kathleen (2019). Cats in Medieval Manuscripts. London: British Library Publishing.
Wischermann, Clemens, ed. (2007). Von Katzen und Menschen: Sozialgeschcihte auf leisen Sohlen. München: UVK.