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Two Cows and a Young Bull beside a Fence in a Meadow

A tired-looking brown and white cow lies down on a patch of dry earth, a dark-brown bull and cow standing behind her against an overcast sky.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A tired-looking brown and white cow lies down on a patch of dry earth, a dark-brown bull and cow standing behind her against an overcast sky.

Date:

1647

Artist:

Paulus Potter
Dutch, 1625-1654

About this artwork

Paulus Potter, a prolific painter and etcher during his short life, elevated images of cows, oxen, and other domestic animals to majestic emblems of nature. His lavish attention to the physical appearances of such beasts—the varied texture and coloring of their hair, their characteristic poses, their bulky contours—borders on portraiture and likely derived from drawings he made from life. With Potter, animal painting blossomed into an independent genre in the Dutch Republic.

Status

On View, Gallery 213

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist

Paulus Potter

Title

Two Cows and a Young Bull beside a Fence in a Meadow

Place

Netherlands (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1647

Medium

Oil on panel

Inscriptions

Inscribed on the fence: Paulus. Potter. f./1647

Dimensions

49.5 × 37.2 cm (19 1/2 × 14 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

In loving memory of Harold T. Martin from Eloise W. Martin, wife, and Joyce Martin Brown, daughter; Charles H. and Mary F.S. Worcester Collection; Lacy Armour Endowment; through prior gift of Frank H. and Louise B. Woods

Reference Number

1997.336

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/146953/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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