First up is this fancy number by Jean-Jacques Bachelier, inventor and master ceramicist at the Sèvres porcelain works, he also had a line in painting pets and still lifes.

This fluffy White Angora wouldn't look out of place next to set of fine china.

Before You've Been Framed, the only way people could watch cats pushed to their limit was in paintings like Annibale Caracchi's 1588 Two Children Teasing a Cat…

Needless to say, do not do this at home. We all know what happens next. You'll probably come off worse than the cat…

This is a bit more peaceful! This sugar-coated painting by Renoir shows Julie Manet, the young daughter of fellow artists Edouard Manet and Berthe Morisot, and her beloved kitten.

Its refined finish and glossy surface marked a distinct change in direction for the Impressionist painter.

A few small pencil strokes for a small cat!

Manet shows his powers of observation by using just a few marks to create the form of this cute little guy.

In at 5, "The world comes to be painted at my studio," said Courbet of this enigmatic 'real allegory summing up seven years of my artistic and moral life'. The accomplished artist represents many different figures from history and fantasy, all of whom he found inspiration in…

…and he didn't forget the cat!

When the cat's away…

…the mice will play!

We could all learn a lot from our feline friends, especially how to let go and let it all hang out. The Swiss-French artist Félix Valloton knows there's nothing better than simply lying around.

This picture might show the dog days of summer, but it's the domain of the cat.

Who knocked over my tomatoes? Probably since the invention of agriculture and architecture, cats have found ways to knock houseplants over.

Takahashi Hiroaki captures that cursed curiosity in this traditional Japanese woodblock print.

The whole of fin-de-siecle Paris - the bars, the dances, the absinthe, the scandal - are summed up in this iconic poster.

The penetrating gaze of the eponymous black cat seems to say, "I know what you did at the Moulin Rouge"!

What's cooler than a cat? A celebrity cat wearing sunglasses. In 1961, LIFE magazine photographer Ralph Crane went along to the Hollywood Studios to snap the black cats auditioning for the movie Tales of Terror. 

If you ask me, they all look purrfect.