Cleveland Museum of Art
Pawing Bull
- Date
- 500–475 BCE
- Medium
- bronze
- Culture
- South Italy, Lucania, Greek
- Department
- Greek and Roman Art
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Object ID
- 111818
From the Cleveland Museum of Art record
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. This solid-cast bronze bull is nearly intact, missing only its tail.
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Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Provenance
- Before 1930: Professor Heinrich Bulle, Würzburg, Germany | 1930-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, purchased from Dr. Jacob Hirsch, through Harold Parsons
Part of a LinkedCulture topic
Ancient Egyptian Personal ObjectsThese objects are cosmetic implements and grooming tools from ancient Egypt, including mirrors, palettes for grinding pigments, and decorative knives, representing daily life and personal adornment practices.
476 objects from 5 institutions
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