Farnese Bull

Farnese Bull is a famous Roman sculpture from the 3rd century CE showing the scene of punishing queen Dirce by tethering her to the horns of a bull.

Dirce was cruel towards the previous wife of Lycus – Antiope. When Antipe’s sons – twins Amphion and Zethus – are convinced by the shepherd who raised them that Antiope is their real mother, they kill Dirce by tying her to the horns of a bull.

As mentioned by Pliny the Elder sculpture is a copy of a Greek work by Apollonios from around the first century BCE and was discovered in the mid-sixteenth century in the Baths of Caracalla. The artifact is located in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.

Farnese Bull is the largest ever-discovered single sculpture from antiquity.