The Young Bull when he completed it; he died in 1654, before he reached 30. The painting was highly admired in the 18th and 19th centuries; in the 1870s the French artist and critic Eugène Fromentin asserted confidently that it, Rembrandt's "The Night Watch" and his "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp" (also in the Mauritshuis) were the three most famous paintings in the Netherlands. The painting was enlarged by Potter, who added extra strips of canvas on both sides and at the top to his original composition, which just included the bull itself. The village in the background is Rijswijk, between
Dirck Tulp Dirck Tulp Dirck or Diederik Tulp (1624–1682) was the son of the surgeon professor Nicolaes Tulp and involved in the Dutch East India Company and the Civic guard. Dirck Tulp visited Moscovia with his father-in-law; he was painted in 1653 by Paulus Potter. In 1647, Dirck accompanied Albert Burgh, son of a brewer and former mayor of Amsterdam, on his mission to Russia, to build up trade connections, especially in grain. Dirck Tulp married Anna Burgh in 1650, daughter of the late Burgh. The couple lived initially on Kloveniersburgwal 65, a building given to Anna by her family. This house