Rustende koe, bij boom 1657 - 1688

Curator: "Resting Cow, near a Tree" is how we translate the title of this etching by Marcus de Bye. He created it sometime between 1657 and 1688. You can currently find this bronze-toned piece over in gallery 217. Editor: What a mood! This sleepy cow has the same vibe as my cat when she sprawls across the couch on a Sunday afternoon. Utterly unbothered. There's such a sense of serenity radiating off the image; it almost feels like a lullaby. Curator: Beyond the immediate comfort, consider how agricultural narratives often symbolized prosperity and the ideal relationship between humanity and nature during the Dutch Golden Age. It highlights the rural underpinnings of economic power during that era. It can be telling that we have animals resting. Editor: Hmm, a symbolic lullaby about economic power? Maybe. But mostly, I see how de Bye plays with light and shadow, giving this simple pastoral scene such depth and texture. It’s all in the details, from the scraggly tree to the individual blades of grass. I could almost feel the scratchiness of the ground right there and I bet that ol' bovine is chewing her cud. Curator: And consider, too, the implied social relations embedded within the seemingly bucolic scene. The artwork may obscure as much as it reveals; the backbreaking labour necessary to sustain Dutch power doesn't readily appear in the pleasant scene. Are we perhaps gazing upon a propaganda piece more than simple etching, intentionally or not? Editor: Well, I can definitely appreciate that perspective. For me, though, the personal connection wins. Maybe the artist just liked cows, and felt like a rest! It brings a little peace to the world, then and now. What more can art really do, but put its bovine backside on things, to paraphrase the bard? Curator: Art is always a mirror held up to culture and context, with all its associated fissures and fractals, right? It is less an etching, than it is a historical lens. Editor: Or, you know, sometimes it's just a really good picture of a resting cow! Glad we agreed that, regardless, art should make you stop, think, or, best of all, just *feel*.