Bull

CC0 Public Domain Designation

c. 1896

Emmanuel Fremiet (French, 1824–1910)
Produced by Émile Muller et Cie. (Ivry-sur-Seine, France, 1854–1908)

This bull and its pelican companion are in fact chimeras: imaginative beasts composed of disparate body parts from two or more animals. French sculptor Emmanuel Fremiet merged the contemporary fascination with medieval imagery—particularly gargoyles—with his lifelong zoological studies. The gothic influence shows in each creature’s set of batlike wings, while the pelican’s mismatched but eerily realistic frog body displays Fremiet’s naturalist bent.

Status: On View, Gallery 245
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist: Emmanuel Fremiet
Title: Bull
Place: France (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1891–1901
Medium: Glazed stoneware
Dimensions: 55 × 59 × 30 cm (21 11/16 × 23 1/4 × 11 13/16 in.)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Constance T. and Donald W. Patterson through the Old Masters Society
Reference Number: 2018.368
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/246811/manifest.json

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.