The Cat Museum is housed in the mansion of the van Loon brothers - two identical historic buildings built in 1667. The Cat Cabinet, which is how the museum's name is translated into Russian, is the brainchild of the eccentric Dutchman William Meijer, who built this museum in memory of his favorite pet - a ginger tomcat named John Morgan.
Meijer absolutely adored his pet and gave him birthday presents every year: when the cat turned one, Meijer presented him with a portrait of the fluffy handsome fellow; when he was five years old - a sculpture of him, which was sadly stolen even before the museum opened. For his fifteenth birthday, Meijer gave John Morgan the most unusual gift - a dollar bill on which the cat's portrait replaced the image of George Washington, with the inscription 'We don't trust dogs' (instead of "In God we trust").
The Cat Museum in Amsterdam is a vast collection of books, paintings, posters, and sculptures dedicated to humanity's furry friends. In its exhibition you will even find works by Rembrandt, Pablo Picasso, and the Russian artist Nikolai Tarkhov.
