The Young Bull

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.