The Farnese Bull (Italian: Toro Farnese), formerly in the Farnese collection in Rome, is a massive Roman elaborated copy of a Hellenistic sculpture. It is the largest single sculpture yet recovered from antiquity. Along with the rest of the Farnese antiquities, it has been since 1826 in the collection of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale Napoli in Naples, inv. no. 6002, though in recent years sometimes displayed at the Museo di Capodimonte across the city. The sculpture in Naples is much restored, and includes around the base a child, a dog, and other animals not apparently in the original composition, which is known from versions in other media.[1]
Pliny the Elder mentions what was presumably the prime version of it as the work of the Rhodian artists Apollonius of Tralles and his brother Tauriscus, stating that it was commissioned at the end of the 2nd century BCE and carved from just one whole block of marble. It was imported from Rhodes as part of the remarkable collection of artwork and sculpture owned by Asinius Pollio, a Roman politician who lived during the years between the Republic and the Principate.[2]
This colossal marble sculptural group represents the myth of Dirce, first wife of Lykos, King of Thebes. She was tied to a wild bull by Amphion and Zethus, the sons of Antiope, who wanted to punish Dirce for the ill-treatment inflicted on their mother.
^Smith, 108
^ Pliny the Elder, Natural History, xxxvi.33-34; Smith, 108
The FarneseBull (Italian: Toro Farnese), formerly in the Farnese collection in Rome, is a massive Roman elaborated copy of a Hellenistic sculpture. It...
Farnese Marbles, their collection of statuary, which includes world-famous works like the Farnese Hercules, Farnese Cup, FarneseBull and the Farnese...
recovered from the ruins include famous sculptures such as the FarneseBull and the Farnese Hercules. Today the Baths of Caracalla are a tourist attraction...
The Farnese Hercules (Italian: Ercole Farnese) is an ancient statue of Hercules, probably an enlarged copy made in the early third century AD and signed...
itself. The death of Dirce is depicted in a marble statue known as the FarneseBull, which is now in the collections of the National Archaeological Museum...
the Italian region Lazio FarneseBull, massive ancient Hellenistic sculpture, formerly in the Farnese collection in Rome Farnese Cup, 2nd-century BC cameo...
treasures of art were placed. In the Baths of Caracalla, the Farnese Hercules and the FarneseBull (now in the National Archaeological Museum, Naples), the...
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works of art within the Farnese collection that have some provenance established, such as the Farnese Hercules and the FarneseBull. It was once displayed...
Giulia Farnese (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒuːlja farˈneːze, -eːse]; 1474 – 23 March 1524) was an Italian noblewoman, a mistress to Pope Alexander VI,...
A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by a pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden seal (bulla)...
from which the Ludovisi Gaul was also a copy. The group called the FarneseBull, possibly a 2nd-century marble original, is still larger and more complex...
copy. Example of the second phase. Taurisks and Apollonius of Tralles: FarneseBull, 2nd century BC, Roman copy. Example of the second phase. Pasíteles:...
Johann Ulrich (ca. 1690) The FarneseBull depicting the punishment of Dirke by Amphion and Zethos Dirce being tied to a bull by Amphion as Zethus looks...
page 170. The sculptural group was the original from which the famous "FarneseBull" of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples was copied. Ovid, Ars...
well-known pieces recovered from the Baths of Caracalla are the FarneseBull and Farnese Hercules and over life-size early 3rd century patriotic figures...
Gauls of Galatia, probably comprising two groups. The Laocoön Group, the FarneseBull, Menelaus supporting the body of Patroclus ("Pasquino group"), Arrotino...
marble group known as the FarneseBull, representing Zethus and Amphion tying the revengeful Dirce to the tail of a wild bull. One or more of the preceding...
well-known pieces recovered from the Baths of Caracalla are the FarneseBull and Farnese Hercules and larger-than-life-sized early 3rd century patriotic...
of painting and sculpture". Also from the Hellenistic period is the FarneseBull, by Apollonius and Tauriscus of Tralles, a copy of an earlier work entitled...
the female figure (Dirce) in the famous Roman sculpture known as the FarneseBull. The composition evolved as Titian worked on it, as is shown by x-rays...
by Pope Paul III (1534–1549) in the bull Videlicet immeriti on 31 October 1537, with his son Pier Luigi Farnese and his firstborn male heirs as its dukes...
adorned by the Farnesebull (now in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples). The palace is now the French Embassy in Italy. 3 Palazzo Farnese Behind the...
Lawes-Wittewronge — Sculptural group Grade II* (with building) Based on the FarneseBull, a classical sculpture depicting the same subject. Presented to the Tate...