Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 4, 1912.djvu/623

 xvi PAULUS POTTER 609 right, a sheep crouches on the ground. Behind, in profile to the left, stands a young brown bull, rubbing its neck against a tree. Near it to the right a light brown cow is grazing. In the left foreground stands a black and white spotted cow, seen from the back and turned three-quarters right. In the centre, farther away, are a sheep, a ram, and a peasant. In the right distance is a long cottage. To the left is a flat pasture which has a great similarity with the background of "The Young Bull" (48), while the same model served for the peasant in both cases, as well as in 105. In the left foreground, too, there is a frog, as in 48. Signed in full on a fence to the right with a genuine signature, although the name is spelt with a B and dated 1648 ; panel, 20 inches by 29^ inches. A replica is in the Lyons Museum, 1903 catalogue, No. 159. Etched by Burnett. In the Kassel inventory of 1749, No. 99, and of 1783, No. 105. In the Louvre, Paris, 1806-15. In the Kassel Gallery, 1903 catalogue, No. 369. 48. THE YOUNG BULL. Sm. i ; W. 6. In the centre a brown bull with white patches, represented life size, stands in profile to the left, with its head turned to the front. To the left of it, at the right side of an oak and a willow, lies a yellow cow with a white head, facing the spectator with its body half in profile and foreshortened. Close to the cow, and a little to the left, lie a sheep and a lamb, behind which, on the left of the trees, stands a ram, in front of a fence. A grey-bearded peasant in a grey jacket and a soft felt hat the same model as in 47 and 105 stands behind the fence ; he leans his upraised left hand on the oak, which is in front of the willow and slopes to the right while the willow is inclined to the left. In the right distance stretches a flat and low-lying pasture, with numerous cows, sheep, and two horses. In the distance is a grove of trees with a village. A church tower and a mansion in the distance recall the country near Rijswijk. In the sky to the right is a bird ; on the ground in front is a frog. Grey sky with dark storm-clouds to the right. The bull is the best part of the picture ; it is the best modelled, too, in contrast to the cow, which seems rather flat. There is no middle distance, and thus the picture lacks cohesion as a whole. Yet for a youth of twenty-one it is a masterpiece. Signed in full on the fence to the left, and dated 1647 J canvas, 95 inches by 138 inches. A study for the bull is in the collection of Lord Northbrook (5 i). A copy by J. Kobell was in the sale : J. Ancher, Amsterdam, April 6, 1847, No. 34 (695 florins, Van Barnevelt). Engraved by Couche, Baltard, F. A. David (?), G. S. and J. G. Facius, A. Liermur, Cornilliet, J. F. Lange ; etched by Denon. Sale. Willem Fabricius, Haarlem, August 19, 1749 (Hoet, ii. 263), No. I (630 florins, the painter F. Dekker for the Stadtholder, William IV.). In the collection of the Stadtholder William V. ; in the 1763 inventory (Terwesten 704), No. 42. In the Louvre, Paris, 1795-1815. In the Royal Picture Gallery, The Hague, 1910 catalogue, No. 136. VOL. IV 2 R