PAULUS POTTER (ENKHUIZEN 1625-AMSTERDAM 1654)
A Young Bull and two Cows in a Meadow
Signed and dated 1649Oil on panel | 70.7 x 63.0 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 404585
Potter painted this scene just after the conclusion of the Eighty Years War against the Spanish in 1648. The Dutch Republic is symbolised by the cow and the meadow, in which it is now permitted to graze undisturbed. A modern equivalent is to imagine it painted in 1946 and depicting a bulldog on the White Cliffs of Dover.
Acquired by George IV in 1814, when Prince Regent, from the Baring Collection
Acquired by George IV in 1814, when Prince Regent, from the Baring Collection