The “Bull of Kerameikos” is one of the most famous and imposing funerary sculptures from ancient Athens, specifically from the site of the Kerameikos, which served as the city’s main cemetery.
It dates to the 4th century BC (specifically around 345-340 BC). This places it firmly in the Classical/Late Classical period of Attic art. It was discovered in its original location within the grave enclosure of the Athenian man Dionysios of Kollytos.
The deceased, Dionysios, is known to have been a prominent individual who served as a treasurer of the Heraion (temple of Hera) on the island of Samos for a year (346/5 BC). The inscription on the monument confirmed his name and patronymic.
“Bull of Kerameikos” and ancient Greek funerary art
The marble bull originally stood on a high pedestal in the middle of a large, elaborate family burial plot, near the “Street of the Tombs” in the Outer Kerameikos cemetery. The sheer scale and quality of the sculpture indicate the high social status and wealth of the family that commissioned it.
In ancient Greek funerary art, animals like bulls, lions, and dogs often served as guardians of the tomb or symbolized the qualities of the deceased, such as strength, nobility, or sacrifice. The Kerameikos bull is celebrated for its powerful realism and masterful execution, capturing the animal’s muscled bulk and solemn expression.
The monumental marble sculpture is housed in the Archaeological Museum of Kerameikos in Athens to ensure its preservation. A concrete replica of the bull is placed on its original pedestal in the Kerameikos archaeological site, giving visitors a sense of the grandeur of the ancient cemetery and preserving the original context of the monument.
It remains an emblematic symbol of the Kerameikos archaeological site and its museum.
The Kerameikos cemetery itself is a critical location in Athenian archaeology, as it was bisected by the city’s defensive walls (the Themistoclean Wall) and contained the starting points of the two most important sacred roads: the Sacred Way (to Eleusis) and the Panathenaic Way (to the Acropolis).
Related: Kerameikos in Athens: The Largest Necropolis of Ancient Greece
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