A sheepfold 

Curator: Jacob Happ's "A sheepfold," a drawing rendered in pencil, greets us here in the Städel Museum. Editor: First impression? Intimate. The scene feels familiar, almost like a memory half-forgotten. Curator: Precisely. There's an enduring appeal in the representation of sheep. In many traditions, they symbolize innocence, docility, but also communal identity and sacrifice. What do you make of the artist’s choice to sketch rather than paint? Editor: Well, there’s a spontaneity in the sketch, isn't there? Pencil lines are raw, direct. It’s like capturing a fleeting moment of rustic life. Perhaps it conveys a sense of unpretentious realism. It's humble. Curator: The realism that you mentioned resonates in other ways, too. Consider the era: 19th century Europe witnessing a growing alienation from rural life and increased urbanization. Images like these could be interpreted as an almost nostalgic yearning for the pastoral. Editor: So, looking at the image beyond simple nostalgia, it's an act of cultural preservation? These fluffy blokes are like little time capsules. I imagine sheep would symbolize home to people. Curator: Absolutely. It’s also interesting how Happ uses light and shadow. Note the detail on the foremost sheep, versus the softer shading suggesting depth in the background. This play helps draw our attention to their faces and gestures. Editor: Yeah, those guys in the back feel blurry in contrast. Maybe I'm stretching, but that blurry aspect is like a suggestion that those simple rustic settings are fading away… I wonder what it would mean for an urbanite who would come across this drawing a few decades later. Would they see comfort, or loss? Curator: A brilliant point! "A sheepfold" becomes a symbolic intersection between past and present, nature and industry, individual and community. It reminds us that even the simplest images can carry immense cultural weight. Editor: I think that what Jacob Happ captured in that field isn't just a group of sheep, but an entire world of rural identity. And, if we’re really going all-in on the symbolism, it suggests something that still calls to us today!