Animals in a Stable 

Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg made this drawing, Animals in a Stable, with red chalk. In eighteenth-century Europe, there was a growing interest in the lives of ordinary people and the everyday realities of rural life. De Loutherbourg's drawing reflects this shift by depicting a simple scene of animals resting in a stable with a man lying on the floor. The image may be viewed as a comment on the social structures of the time. The contrast between the working man’s weary pose and the animals' peaceful rest raises questions about labor and the distribution of resources in society. Perhaps De Loutherbourg is critiquing the inequalities of the time by showing the simple dignity of labor alongside the quiet rest of the animals. By consulting sources from the period, such as agricultural records, social commentaries, and even literary descriptions of rural life, we can gain a better understanding of the drawing’s meaning in its original social and institutional context.