REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van Rijn
(b. 1606, Leiden, d. 1669, Amsterdam)

The Slaughtered Ox

1655
Oil on wood, 94 x 69 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

Catalogue number: Bredius 457.

This picture, one of Rembrandt's most affecting paintings, shows the carcass of an ox hung up to bleed. While showing the details of the rack on which the butchered animal is hung and the condition of the carcass, it is not a clinical picture. The head of the woman peering tentatively into the space where the animal hangs introduces an element of questioning into the scene. What the question might be is open.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.