Form 15 (3/31/86) NSF PROJECT IST-850 5411 EXPERIMENTS ON THE COGNITIVE ASPECTS OF INFORMATION SEEKING AND INFORMATION RETRIEVING USER QUESTIONS FOR ONLINE SEARCHES QUESTION NUMBER: 024 A1. BRIEF TITLE: The cat in sixteenth century Italian art A2. QUESTION STATEMENT: What is the meaning of the cat as it appears in paintings in Italy from 1450 to 1600? When does it first appear in this context? Cats ( usually one ) frequently appear in Italian Renaissance paintings of the Nativity and of the Madonna and Child. Why? Is the cat a symbol of the Vigin or of the Christ Child? Is its symbolism positive or does it have an evil connotation? Is the cat male or female? Who is the first to use the cat in these contexts? Does the cat have the same meaning when included in paintings of saints or of the Last Supper?. TYPE OF SEARCH REQUESTED B. A precise or a broad search: Not Specified C. Research application: Faculty research - Art D. Retrieve articles in English only or any language: Any language E. Years to be searched: No limits F. DIALOG databases suggested: Š