# Cattle Herd

- By: Paulus Potter (Enkhuizen, 1625–1654)
- Date: 1641
- Medium: paper, ink, chalk
- Classification: drawing
- Dimensions: height 178 mm x width 263 mm
- Credit line: Purchased with the support of the I.Q. van Regteren Altena Fonds/Rijksmuseum fonds and partial gift of I. Hellingman and L. Baljon, Amsterdam
- Museum: [Rijksmuseum](https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/RP-T-2015-47--2997ffadb34ce158a6b35e8d65dfab1f)
- Rights: [Public Domain Mark](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/web/291a5f44e1b503f31afba55a0cb667bd.jpg
- Who can see it: Little Ones profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Even though this is one of his earliest drawings, the teenage Paulus Potter nevertheless portrayed the anatomy of the cow’s body with consummate skill. The hide appears to be stretched over the skeleton, as it were. He probably used sculpted or cast models of animals, which he drew from various angles. In this drawing the same standing cow is seen from the back, the side, and the front.