We& #39;re thrilled to be taking part in this eighth @GlobalSciShow!

For our feature, we& #39;re going to be focusing in on one key area of English rural history. A very rectangular one.

The science behind these very square cows:
From the mid 18th century onwards, livestock portraiture became an established artform in England - a tradition replete with spectacularly rectangular sheep, pigs, cows, and more.
This resulted from a period of extensive agricultural reform, with one of the most significant innovations being the development of the science of selective breeding.

And when a breeder was particularly delighted with an animal they& #39;d bred, they& #39;d have its portrait made.
Of course, these portraits wildly overemphasise the features that breeders thought so desierable. These cows are like Lego bricks, or Minecraft cattle.

So, please don& #39;t take these portraits as if they& #39;re realistic. Of course, you can if you& #39;d like to.
your imagination is your own but please use it responsibly
Of course, every now and then, life imitates art.

But it& #39;s important to remember that sheep like these result from the same tradition of selective breeding as the very square livestock of the paintings. But with a little better anti-aliasing, is all. https://twitter.com/themerl/status/983341970318938112?lang=en">https://twitter.com/themerl/s...
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