by Paulus Potter, 1647
Paulus Potter completed this monumental canvas in 1647, when he was just 22 years old. A massive young bull dominates the composition, rendered in life-size scale with extraordinary anatomical precision. Sheep, a cow, and a farmer fill the pastoral scene beneath a cloudy Dutch sky.
The painting shocked 17th-century viewers with its unprecedented size for an animal subject (235.5 × 339 cm). Potter heightened the humble cow to heroic status, a bold move in the Dutch Golden Age. Now at the Mauritshuis in The Hague, where it remains a star attraction.
Other masterpieces from the Dutch Golden Age movement

Rembrandt van Rijn, 1633
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Johannes Vermeer, 1666
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Johannes Vermeer, 1664
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Rembrandt van Rijn, 1654
Louvre, Paris, Paris

Johannes Vermeer, 1665
Mauritshuis, The Hague

Johannes Vermeer, 1670
Louvre, Paris, Paris

Johannes Vermeer, 1663
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Rembrandt van Rijn, 1642
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
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