Cats in Art: The Duke of Saint Aignan...(Subleyras)

From my continuing weekly Sunday series of cats in art.  Having moved on from Stefano Zuffi's marvelous work, The Cat in Art, I am now using some ideas from Caroline Bugler's equally impressive book, The Cat/3500 Years of the Cat in Art.

This will be the second week of featuring the art of Pierre Subleyras.

Image credit The Athenaeum, The Duke of Saint Aignan Investing Girolamo Vaini, Prince of Cantalupe and Duke of Selci, with the Insignia of a Knight of the Holy Spirit, Pierre Subleyras, 1737, 20" x 16", oil on canvas, held in a private collection.

So, where's the cat?  I think--but cannot quiiiiiite tell for sure--that a kitty lurks in that dark recess in the dead center of the painting.  Here's the close-up, but of course the larger you magnify, the blurrier it gets:

Since this work is in a private collection, I could only find a couple of web images, and none of sufficient resolution to discern the alleged cat better than I can show above.

To me, the cat is clearly visible.  You know how much cats love pageantry and ritual, so it's no surprise that this kitty wants to be right in the center of this coronation-type ceremony.