Hercules and the Cretan Bull
early 17th century
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
Overall: 21 3/4 × 16 in. (55.2 × 40.6 cm)
Classification
Sculpture-Bronze
Culture
French or Netherlandish
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Jean A. Seligmann and Arnold Seligmann, in memory of Arnold Seligmann, 1933
Accession Number
33.20
Tags
About the Artist
Giambologna · 1529–1608
Born and trained in Flanders (Douai, his birthplace, is now in France but was once in Flanders), Giambologna traveled to Italy in 1550 to study Classical and Renaissance sculpture. There, he became court sculptor of the Medici Dukes. He was famed for compositional sophistication, sensuous, tactile treatment of human body, and sheer technical virtuosity. He was extremely influential because the Med...