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The Bull-Leaping Fresco is the most completely restored of several stucco panels originally sited on the upper-story portion of the east wall of the Minoan palace at Knossos in Crete. It shows a bull-leaping scene. Although they were frescos, they were painted on stucco relief scenes.
Perhaps the best-loved ancient illustration of this, called the bull-leaping or Toreador fresco, comes from the site of Knossos on the island of Crete. The wall painting, as it is now reconstructed, shows three people leaping over a bull: one person at its front, another over its back, and a third at its rear.
Dec 6, 2023 · Perhaps the best-loved ancient illustration of this, called the bull-leaping or Toreador fresco, comes from the site of Knossos on the island of Crete. The wall painting, as it is now reconstructed, shows three people leaping over a bull: one person at its front, another over its back, and a third at its rear.
The "Toreador" Fresco. ("Scene from bull sports") from Knossos. LM I. Fresco (restored) (Archaeological Museum, Herakleion, Crete) The original Court of the Stone Spout was probably an open space; later two walls were built running east-west. The fresco fragments were found in the upper layers of débris in the south-west corner.
This fresco is the best preserved of at least four paintings depicting the same subject, which were found in the East Wing of the Palace of Knossos and adorned a room on the upper floor. Their theme is bull-leaping, an acrobatic sport involving bulls.
A similar but even more dangerous tradition of non-violent bull-leaping, recortes, is practiced in some parts of Spain. Specialist toreros (bullfighters), known as recortadores, compete at dodging and leaping over bulls without the use of the cape or sword.
Bull sports—including leaping over them, fighting them, running from them, or riding them—have been practiced all around the globe for millennia. Perhaps the best-loved ancient illustration of this, called the bull-leaping or Toreador fresco, comes from the site of Knossos on the island of Crete.
