Ask the Scholar

Massive bulls, either representing the Egyptian bull-god Apis or bulls being led to sacrifice, are a frequent subject in Roman art, including in the form of small-scale bronzes. This is surely the source of interest in the subject in the 1500s.There was interest in this subject in the university antiquarian circles of Padua in the early 1500s, but this piece seems later and is associated with the versions of the subject by Giambologna. In the course of a successful career as court sculptor in Florence, Giambologna created not only arresting large-scale works but statuettes, such as his splendid "Allegory of Architecture." He was also a remarkable interpreter of animals. He first cast a version of this "Bull" in 1573. Subsequent casts of this popular subject were made in his workshop and by others. A second, fire-gilded cast is in the collection as well (54.150). The surface has been hatched to suggest the hide and chiseled.There are a number of versions of his statuette in public collections, for example in the Frick Collections, New York City.