Wooded Landscape with Cottage, Cows and Sheep 1765 - 1775

Thomas Gainsborough created this Wooded Landscape with Cottage, Cows, and Sheep with pen and ink, and watercolor on paper. See how the cottage sits atop a hill. Its placement is not merely topographical but symbolic. The elevated home appears throughout art history, such as in Pieter Bruegel the Elder's Tower of Babel. Whether a humble cottage or a grandiose tower, the raised structure signifies humanity's reach toward the heavens, a striving for something beyond the mundane. This same symbolism appears in Caspar David Friedrich's landscapes, where figures ascend peaks, seeking spiritual enlightenment. Consider how such imagery engages our collective memory. From ancient ziggurats to modern skyscrapers, the impulse to build upward is a recurring theme in human civilization. The subconscious draw toward height reflects our longing for transcendence, a reaching beyond our earthly bounds. Here, Gainsborough captures this innate desire, making the landscape a mirror reflecting humanity’s eternal quest for something more.