What if the Sphinx was a real cat?
Today We, Zarathustra the Cat, reveal the true look of the Sphinx in the famous Jean León Gérôme’s painting featuring Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in Egypt:
Jean León Gérôme, Bonaparte Before the Living Sphinx
“Hey, Bonaparte, are you coming here with shrimpies? If not, go home, you invader!” says the magnificent creature to the insolent human daring to disturb his centuries-long privacy.
Jean León Gérôme, Bonaparte Before the Living Sphinx, close-up
The Living Sphinx’s murder mittens and his irritated tail can protect his territory much better than in the unimproved version of the painting to be seen in the California Statewide Museum Collections Center:
Jean León Gérôme, Bonaparte Before the Sphinx, California State Parks’ Museum Collection
No more power-craving emperors!
Go away, you invaders!
Thus speaks Zarathustra, the Living Sphinx
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