Cow in a Stream n.d.

Carl Wilhelm Kolbe's etching portrays a cow in a stream amidst dense foliage, evoking pastoral scenes cherished in art. The cow, a symbol of nourishment and pastoral harmony, is set in the stream. The image resonates with ancient symbols of fertility and abundance, recalling the myth of Europa carried across the sea by a bull, a deity in disguise. This seemingly simple image echoes motifs of the Golden Age, and the longing for a simpler, more harmonious existence. Just as the nymph is seized by a God, so is the unconscious seized by primal imagery. The foliage surrounding the cow, rendered with such detail, evokes a sense of the untamed forces of nature. The image also speaks to our collective memory of nature's life-giving power, a theme that resurfaces throughout art history. This scene is part of a cyclical return to themes that touch our deepest emotional states.