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The exhibit

Knossos, Palace. 1650 - 1550 BC

Despite its fragmentary state of preservation, this impressive depiction of a charging bull is a crowning example of Minoan naturalistic art. The relief technique is used to render the bull’s head and the dramatic tension of the scene with extraordinary realism. The lowered head, pricked-forward ears and half-open mouth with lolling tongue vividly express the animal’s desperation to escape its pursuers, as it appears that the subject of the larger scene was a bull hunt. Other relief fragments from the same composition depict parts of the bodies of two bulls, limbs of two human figures, one male and one female, olive trees and a rocky landscape. The fresco adorned the wall of the portico believed to have surmounted the West Porch of the North Entrance to the palace of Knossos. The bull, a symbol of strength and fertility, was one of the most popular subjects of the iconography of the Palace of Knossos during the Neopalatial and Final Palatial periods.
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HOLIDAYS

1 January: closed

6 January: 08:30 – 15:00

Shrove Monday: 08:30 – 15:00

25 March: closed

Good Friday: 12:00 – 17:00

Holy Saturday: 08:00 – 15:00

1 May: closed

Easter Sunday: closed

Easter Monday: 08:00 – 20:00

Holy Spirit Day: 08:00 – 20:00

15 August: 08:00 – 20:00

28 October: 08:00 – 20:00

25 December: closed

26 December: closed