Four Young Bulls in a Meadow
1651
Medium
oil on panel
Dimensions
h 25cm × w 30.1cm × d 1.1cm
Classification
painting
Museum
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
About this artwork
Vier jonge stieren in de weide; drie staand, één liggend.
Art Historical Context
Paulus Potter's *Four Young Bulls in a Meadow* (1651) captures a serene pastoral moment in the Dutch countryside, depicting three young bulls standing alertly while one reclines peacefully amid lush grass. This intimate oil-on-panel painting, just 25 x 30.1 cm, exemplifies Potter's mastery of animal portraiture during the Dutch Golden Age, a period when realistic depictions of everyday rural life flourished alongside grand history paintings. A prodigy who died tragically young at 28, Potter specialized in livestock scenes, rendering animals with astonishing anatomical precision and lifelike t...
About the Artist
Paulus Potter · 1625–1654
Paulus Potter (1625–1654) was a Dutch Golden Age painter whose short life — he died at just twenty-eight years of age — belied an artistic achievement of remarkable originality and influence. Born in Enkhuizen in 1625, Potter trained under his father, the painter Pieter Potter, and later in Amsterdam and Delft, where he absorbed the technical standards of the flourishing Dutch painting tradition. ...