Sculptuur van de Farnesische stier in het Neues Museum, Berlijn 1877

This photograph by Sophus Williams, taken around 1872 in Berlin, captures the sculptural group known as the Farnese Bull. The dominant symbol here is the bull itself, an animal of immense power and primordial energy. This beast, being subdued by human figures, speaks to a primal, instinctual world brought under the sway of human intellect and will. This motif echoes through time, from the Minoan bull-leaping frescoes to Picasso's Minotaur, each iteration grappling with themes of raw power, sacrifice, and transformation. The twisting bodies of the figures around the bull evoke a Laocoön-like struggle, a vortex of agony and resistance. Think of the emotional intensity Bernini captured in his sculptures. These are not merely aesthetic choices, but powerful expressions of human fate against overwhelming odds. The image reverberates with primal human emotions that persist through history.