Lentoid engraved seal

From the Getty Museum record

A male acrobat leaps over a bull, grasping one of its horns with his left hand on this lentoid (lens-shaped) engraved seal. The ancient engraver has organized the composition to fill the circular field of the stone. While the bull’s body is seen in profile, its head is depicted frontally. The male leaper, meanwhile, has flipped himself over the animal. Nude but for a loincloth and codpiece, he has the tall, thin proportions and muscular legs that are associated with male figures in Minoan art. Such scenes of bull leaping are typical of the art of Late Bronze Age Crete (1600-1100 B.C.) They appear not only on engraved gems but also in frescoes and as statuettes. Minoan craftsmen carved seals from stone, ivory, and other precious materials. When pressed into soft clay or wax, the engraved seals produced relief images. Such impressions were employed as signatures on documents, and to seal pots and other containers as a way to guarantee or label their contents. Simple designs decorated the earliest seals, while later examples show detailed pictorial compositions. Two of the most common types are lentoid and amygdaloid (almond-shaped). Although stones found locally, such as hematite, carnelian, steatite, agate, and jasper, were commonly used, seals were also produced from exotic materials, such as amethyst, lapis lazuli, and hippopotamus ivory.