cat cuddle

found on pinterest. believed PD based on research

I don't approve of wearing fur, but I have to take into account that this work dates from 1915 when fur was very often worn.  In fact I think the fur stole is part of the underlying reason for this portrait of Michalina Krzyzanowska by her husband, Konrad Krzyzanowki (Polish, 1872-1922).  With the borrowed pelt draped round her, Michalina looks rather like a sleek plump cat herself.  Her equally sleek tabby with its gorgeously picked-out stripes nuzzles her as if she's a fellow feline; the whole image radiates comfort and affection, not least with the slight golden nimbus round Michalina's head.  Konrad met her when she was his student at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts.  At the time this portrait was painted, they had left Warsaw to wait out WWI with her relatives in the Ukranian region of Volhynia.  I hope the wait was as peaceful as this image would indicate.