Kop van een koe 1830

This is Benjamin Phelps Gibbon's etching of a cow's head. Here, the prominent horns serve not just as biological attributes, but as potent symbols deeply embedded in our cultural memory. Horns have long been associated with power and virility, and a primal, instinctual response is stirred within us when we see them represented. Consider the bull—an animal revered across ancient civilizations, from the Minoan frescoes of Knossos to the sacred bulls of Egypt. In these contexts, the bull symbolized strength, fertility, and divine authority. This image is then a transference of power; a legacy passed down through centuries. The association of horns with power can shift, morph, and even invert—consider the horned devil of Christian iconography, a symbol of wickedness. These images continue to resurface in new forms, each iteration echoing the past while simultaneously forging new connections.