Gentleman from Siam

Elizabeth Norton

Norton’s subject matter was often animals and she explained, “I never would play with dolls. I just liked anything alive—whether it was crickets or grasshoppers, lizards or dogs or cats or horses…. The Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago was a second home to me when I was young. I used to go and feed the elephants as a small child.” As she became more proficient at painting, the zoo superintendent allowed her to go inside the barrier between the crowds and cages. She later mused, “I spent a lot of time in the lion house. I was crazy about lions, and the superintendent often let me pet their best lion, Leo, and carry some of the lion cubs.”

In ancient times, Siamese cats, one of the oldest domesticated breeds, were a favorite of royal families due to their appearance. It was believed that when a member of the royal family died, their Siamese cat would receive their soul. The cat would then spend the rest of their days living luxuriously in a temple with monks and priests as their servants.