Mysio (cat)
Illumination from a copy of Der naturen bloeme, c. 1450-1500
The National Library of the Netherlands

The Hague, KB, 76 E 4, f. 27v is a copy of Jacob van Maerlant's 13th century a mediaeval encyclopaedia Der naturen bloeme ('The Flower of Nature'), which was dedicated to the beauty of nature. In one of its illuminations, a rather stark and watchful cat with a dark coat and prominent ears appears against a field of stylised trees framed by a red and white patterned border. It carries the name mysio, a term that arose in medieval Latin for a cat and reaches back to the classical Greek mus or mys meaning mouse in reference to the creature’s hunting abilities.