Pets

It was only in the period 500-1500 CE that members of the nobility started keeping dogs for companionship, and many 17th-century paintings show them in this role. In the Middle Ages, cats, which were traditionally kept as mouse catchers, got a bad reputation through their association with witchcraft. It was only in the Victorian era that people started accepting cats as domestic pets, with pedigree breeds such as the British Shorthair and the Persian Longhair becoming status symbols among the wealthy. Having a pet such as a dog or cat, or later birds and fish, became quite common in the 19th century. The artist Henriëtte Ronner-Knip (1821-1909) specialised in paintings of cats and became well known for them. Many noble and other wealthy families commissioned her to immortalise their beloved pets on canvas.