Farnese Bull

Farnese Bull. Ancient marble sculpture group (probably a Roman copy of a Greek original of c.150 bc); it was found in the Baths of Caracalla in Rome in 1545, was acquired for the Farnese collection soon afterwards, and is now in the Archaeological Museum in Naples. The subject, taken from Greek legend, involves the punishment of Dirce, who for her cruelty to Antiope was tied to the horns of a bull by Antiope's sons ( Dirce's stepsons) and trampled to death. The figures are life-size, and the group is one of the most spectacular examples of the technical virtuosity and dramatic movement typical of Hellenistic art; Federico Zuccaro described it as a ‘marvellous mountain of marble’.

Farnese Bull sculptured group representing Zethus and Amphion, sons of Antiope, tying Dirce (who had ill-treated their mother) to an enraged bull. The sculpture is generally considered to have been executed by Apollonius of Tralles and his brother Tauriscus in the 1st or 2d cent. BC A copy made in the early 3d cent. AD decorated the Baths of Caracalla. This copy, with incorrect restorations, was later in the Farnese Palace and is now in the National Museum, Naples.

Farnese Bull Ancient marble sculpture group (probably a Roman copy of a Greek original of c.150 bc), once part of the Farnese collection and now in the Archaeological Museum in Naples. The subject, taken from Greek legend, shows the punishment of Dirce, who for her cruelty to Antiope was tied to the horns of a bull by Antiope's sons (Dirce's stepsons) and trampled to death. The figures are life-size, and the group, which was found in the Baths of Caracalla in Rome in 1545, is one of the most spectacular examples of the technical virtuosity and dramatic movement typical of Hellenistic art; Federico Zuccaro described it as a ‘marvellous mountain of marble’.