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

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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