Staande os, naar rechts 1645 - 1706

This print, "Standing Ox, facing right," was made by Paulus Potter in the Netherlands, sometime in the mid-17th century. Potter was well known for his paintings of animals, but this work is an etching. Prints like this one existed in a complex relationship with Dutch painting of the period. On the one hand, the print market created an appetite for images that painters sought to satisfy. On the other hand, printmaking allowed artists to reach new audiences outside of elite circles, giving them an opportunity to circulate their ideas about rural life. The Dutch Golden Age saw the rise of a prosperous merchant class and the growth of cities. Against this backdrop, paintings and prints of rural life served as idealized images of the countryside, offering a vision of harmony and natural abundance. Art historians use a variety of sources to understand the social and economic context for works like this, including estate inventories, tax records, and auction catalogs.