Study of a Cow 1651 - 1685

Johann Heinrich Roos made this drawing, Study of a Cow, with pen and brown ink with gray wash on blue laid paper. Roos was a painter from the Baroque period. His artistic identity was shaped by the tumultuous times of the Thirty Years' War and its aftermath, where the rebuilding of Europe led to the creation of new social structures. In this context, Roos turned to the countryside, observing and representing the animals that were central to rural life and the agrarian economy. The drawing captures the essence of the cow, an animal that has long been symbolically linked to femininity. The cow represents nourishment and fertility, but also, domesticity and labor. The gentle way in which Roos captures the resting animal invites us to reflect on the relationship between humans and animals, and how cultural values are projected onto the natural world.