Grasendes Rind, rechts daneben ein Rinderkopf 

Adriaen van de Velde created this red chalk drawing, “Grazing Cow, with a Cow’s Head beside It,” now held at the Städel Museum. The warm, earthy tones and soft hatching give the figures a gentle, lifelike presence. The composition is structured around the juxtaposition of forms. The main cow, depicted in a grazing posture, dominates the foreground. Adjacent to it, the artist presents a detached cow's head. This deliberate placement invites us to consider the relationship between wholeness and fragmentation. The drawing exists within a semiotic field where the representation of cattle is concerned with pastoral life, but the fragmented head introduces a note of disquiet, unsettling the idyllic scene. The structure invites us to question fixed meanings, reflecting broader philosophical concerns about nature and representation. The materiality of the red chalk, with its delicate yet precise lines, underscores the artwork's reflective qualities. It transforms a seemingly straightforward pastoral scene into a complex meditation on form, perception, and the act of seeing itself.