The Taureador Fresco
One of at least six consecutive decorative panels that ran around the walls of a room, all depicting the subject of bull-leaping, the execution of acrobatic leaps over charging bulls.
This painting probably depicts three basic “episodes” of a type of leap over the bull: first the grasping of the horns, then the launching of the athlete’s body vertically over the back of the bull by the tossing of the enraged animal’s head, and lastly the athlete’s landing behind it. Bull-leaping was performed frequently, at least in the environment of the palace of Knossos, and appears to have involved some religious symbolism, given the symbolic identification of the bull with the vigour of nature.
- Heraklion Archaeological Museum, inv. n. Τ. 14
- 1450 – 1400 BC (Late LΜ ΙΒ – LΜ ΙΙ)
- Max. L. (incl. frame) 0.7 m.
- Fresco
- Provenance: Knossos, East Wing of the palace
Bibliography
- Marinatos, N. & Palyvou, C. (2007). The Taureador Frescoes from Knossos: a new study, In B. Manfred, N. Marinatos & C. Palivou, Taureador Scenes in Tell el-Dab’a (Avaris) and Knossos, (pp. 115 – 126), Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften Denkschriften der Gesamtakademie 43, Untersuchungen der Zweigstelle Kairo des Österreichischen Archäologischen Institutes 27. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
