Stehende und liegende Ziege 

Editor: Here we have Friedrich Wilhelm Hirt’s “Stehende und liegende Ziege,” or "Standing and Lying Goat," an ink drawing that resides here at the Städel Museum. There's something so calm about the contrast between the upright, attentive goat and the relaxed one lying down. What catches your eye? Curator: The symbolism is so rooted in agrarian life! Notice the way the artist positions the standing goat—almost a guardian figure. Goats, throughout history, have represented virility, abundance, but also stubbornness and untamed nature. The lying goat... how does its positioning strike you? Editor: It feels passive, content perhaps? Like a domestic scene, where both vigilance and rest are present. Curator: Exactly. Consider how the cultural memory of the goat contrasts: sacred in some mythologies, scapegoats in others. The dark ink wash against the light, reclining goat…is there a potential dichotomy there, in the cultural unconscious? One stands, aware and defined. The other rests, perhaps more innocent. Hirt uses the animals and ink to explore how we perceive order versus freedom. Do you find the depiction idealized, or realistic? Editor: Maybe a bit of both? The rendering feels quite lifelike, but the composition is so balanced, so deliberate... Curator: Indeed. Hirt acknowledges both the physical reality and symbolic weight. Understanding this interplay is key to appreciating this drawing's understated complexity. Editor: I never thought about the symbolic contrast between a standing and lying animal! That really opens up the work for me. Curator: It's in recognizing those layered meanings that art truly speaks across centuries.