Studie van een dode en een levende kip 1865 - 1878

Jules Laurens made this drawing of a dead and a living chicken. We don't know the exact date, but most likely it was made sometime in the 19th century. In Laurens's time, academic art often upheld strict hierarchies, favoring history painting and portraiture. But here we have chickens. Laurens, however, was a skilled draughtsman who likely made this drawing as a study. Consider, though, that in the 19th century, rapidly changing social structures altered relationships between people and nature. Industrialization caused many to become alienated from animals which were now considered commodities. The juxtaposition of life and death—one chicken stands tall and alert, the other hangs limp—asks us to consider the chicken's existence. What does it mean to live, and what does it mean to die? By giving us the possibility to contemplate the non-human, Laurens invites us to reflect on our own mortality, and our place in the world.