In these hyperbolic paintings, the animals are painted in a way to realize their ideal shape

 

In these hyperbolic paintings, the animals are painted in a way to realize their ideal shape. Pigs are painted to look like inflated footballs. Cows are stretched out in to rectangular shapes. Sheeps are elongated in to oval shapes.⁣ During this time, farmers were using selective breeding and experimenting with new feeding practices to grow larger livestock. There was also a national push to create a steady food supply to help feed a growing population.⁣ It should be noted that during this time, England was enacting the Enclosure Acts, which basically consolidated land in the hands of a wealthy few for the purpose of making them more productive. The local peasants who had been using the land for generations were either compensated with inferior land or were simply forced out to move into the cities and work in the factories. This mass exodus from the countryside to the city created a cheap labor force that would kickstart the Industrial Revolution.