the last fat cat, i promise

statens museum for kunst/national gallery of denmark, inventory #KKS6916.  (PD)

I ate rum-soaked butter cake for breakfast, so. . . 

Now, I can't be the only one who has fellow-feeling for the glutton cat in Niels Skovgaard's illustration.  The cheerful soul poking him is the parson, whom the story describes as carrying a crooked staff.  Parsons seem to pop up in the same broad-brimmed hat and sensible outwear whenever one spots them in art and literature, so that was easy.

the fat cat observes hors d'oeuvres

statens museum for kunst/national gallery of denmark, inventory #KKS6914.  (PD)

Holiday snacking, right?  No wonder I'm on a Niels Skovgaard Fat Cat (Tykke Kat) kick.  Here the Cat is scoping out a group of girls (he eats them) and a flock of birds (he eats them).  You get the theme.  Don't be too upset.  Everyone gets out of the Cat's tum in the end, none the worse for wear, and very little wear to their "host."  I have one more of these I want to share this week.  Stay tuned!  Don't you like how deft and lyrical Skovgaard's lines are?  These are pen and ink sketches, whipped out with hardly a misstep.

a fat danish cat, 1911

statens museum for kunst/national gallery of denmark, inventory #KKS6920.  (PD)

Isn't he something?  He's "Den tykke kat" (The thick [fat] cat), and his story was illustrated in 1911 by Danish artist Niels Skovgaard (1858-1938).  It's an old folktale of a cat with bad manners and big appetite, and how he learns the error of his ways.  Skovgaard's images for this are droll, and perfect for this week of holiday eating.  
The penciled note reads "Over indholdsfortegnelsen" - "over the table of contents."
Skovgaard was not only known for illustrative work, but for naturalist painting and perhaps most for his sculpture.