Figured Capital with Bull's Head

A monumental protome or figured capital in the shape of a bull's head, emerging below a rectangular abacus and sloping echinus. The fleshy part of the bull's neck (or dewlap) is broken off. The head is carved nearly in the round, except for the curved horns which fuse with the echinus. Carefully articulated curls on the forehead and deeply carved stylized eyes contrast with the more superficial rendering of the closed mouth. The upper surface of the capital features a dowel hole with two pour channels. Behind each of the animal's ears, the block is shaped as an irregular rectangle.

Figural capitals with bull heads decorated many types of sacred and civic buildings during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Comparable examples have been found across the Mediterranean, from Spain and Croatia to Turkey, Lebanon, and Syria. The preparation of the top surface indicates that it had an architectural function, perhaps as a console or anta.