Bull Leaping Fresco

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 palace at Knossos in Crete. Although it was a fresco,  it was painted on stucco relief scenes and therefore is classified as plastic art. The theme is a stock scene, one of a few depicting the handling of bulls.

The them is often interpreted as a depiction of a ritual performed in connection with bull worship. This ritual consists of an acrobatic leap over a bull; when the leaper grasps the bull’s horns, the bull will violently jerk his neck upwards giving the leaper the momentum necessary to perform somersaults and other acrobatic tricks or stunts.

This fresco is dated Some time in MM III or LM I and is currently displayed at the Heraklion Archeological Museum, Crete.