
Collection Online as of February 4, 2023
Bronze
Overall: 10.6 x 5 cm (4 3/16 x 1 15/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1930.336
102C Greek
With its head slightly lowered and right foreleg raised in a pawing motion, this robust bull seems poised for action. The pose closely resembles that of bulls on coins minted at Thurii, a Greek colony in South Italy, but the statuette seems earlier in date and could have other associations. Perhaps the bull once carried the princess Europa, for example, or battled a lion or a hero. Alternatively, it may have stood alone as a small-scale offering, representing the actual bulls sometimes sacrificed to deities.