Stehende Kuh im verlorenen Profil nach rechts 

Curator: Welcome. Today, we're considering a drawing from the Städel Museum's collection entitled "Stehende Kuh im verlorenen Profil nach rechts," or "Standing Cow in Lost Profile to the Right," rendered in ink by Friedrich Wilhelm Hirt. Editor: There’s a delicate melancholy in the creature’s stance. The monochromatic palette and somewhat fading lines contribute to a feeling of something receding, a memory perhaps. Curator: It’s intriguing you say that, given the history of landscape art. The pastoral tradition, where idealized visions of rural life served to legitimize social hierarchies and obscure the realities of labor. Consider how representations of animals—specifically cows—were linked to notions of abundance and fertility, reinforcing particular patriarchal narratives. Editor: Precisely, that's why it evokes a feeling of loss! The animal's posture is a visual embodiment of those themes of production. The very deliberate lines defining the muscles suggests awareness, a silent resignation. But there's something universal about it too, the cow becomes a vessel. Curator: The stark realism resists easy romanticization. You see the musculature, the mass of the animal. I appreciate how Hirt captures the heft, its animal presence, within an artistic framework that, at the time, might have seen such realism as… disruptive. Editor: Symbols often work on multiple levels, of course. The cow is so ubiquitous it has become a cultural container: in the past, as an embodiment of divine motherhood or as the ultimate sacrifice. But even here, drained of saturated colour, rendered in brown ink, it suggests vulnerability, doesn't it? Curator: Absolutely. To truly reckon with it, we must acknowledge how such depictions have served—and often still serve—to normalize exploitation, to erase the voices of those most directly impacted by industrial processes and animal rights. It invites an uneasy recognition. Editor: It really makes you reflect, doesn’t it? On how images, so seemingly simple, are weighted with meaning that resonates through time. Curator: A powerful reminder that every image engages in the discourse and reinforces a system. Thank you for that reflection.