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Bullfighting tattoos feature a beautiful animal, with shiny skin and sharp horns, whom it is better to admire from afar if we do not want to get a scare in the style of the endearing Félicité, who is also the protagonist of Flaubert's brilliant story “A Simple Heart”.
Today we are actually going to talk about bullfighting tattoos, that is, with bulls as protagonists, but without getting into the savagery that are the horrible bullfights, since we will talk about the meaning and mystique of this animal and we will give you a few ideas to be able to take advantage of it in a tattoo. By the way, if you want to know more, do not forget to visit this other article about bull tattoos.
The bull as a symbol
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More or less we all know what a bull is: it is the male of the uncastrated cow, in addition, it is characterized by having a more aggressive behavior than this and a body not so tender, but more muscular and, in short, for having a bad character in general (although the legend that the color red pisses them off is nothing more than a myth, since bulls, unable to perceive the colors red and green, like a large number of mammals, what bothers them is movement).
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Continuing with the symbolism of this animal, as we said in the article that we have linked above, the bull symbolizes the animal force unleashed in many culturesIn fact, for the Native American culture, bull skulls are a very particular symbol of strength.
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In fact, the bull as a symbol, and more especially as a deity or a sacred animal, has been used for at least 17.000 years, which is the time to which the Lascaux paintings, the first known representation of this beautiful animal, have been dated. However, it appears in many other ancient cultures, and not only as a symbol of strength, but of fertility, for example, when Zeus kidnaps Europa to rape her in the form of a white bull.
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Unfortunately, the poor bulls have also suffered at human hands since the beginning of time: in addition to the odious bullfights, a savagery that inexplicably still survives today, or the embolaos bulls, or the Sanfermines, the human being has shown how despicable he is with pseudo-sports such as bull baiting, which was very popular in England until which luckily was banned in 1835, in which a pack of dogs was launched against an enraged bull (by the way, this is where the name of the bulldog breed comes from).
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Bull Tattoo Ideas
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Being an animal with so much mythology and symbolism behind it, the bull gives a lot of himself in a tattoo. Let's see, for example:
realistic bulls
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The first thing that comes to mind when you think of bull tattoos is, of course, realistic bulls. In the end this animal has a dynamism that looks great in a tattoo of this styleIn addition, being of dark colors, black and white suits the bulls very well. If you opt for this style of tattoo, you can opt for a large pizza, but also for just tattooing the head of the animal, the most recognizable of the bulls.
Taurus Tattoos
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If we talk about bullfighting tattoos, we cannot forget about Taurus, one of the zodiac symbols par excellence. Stubborn, strong and with fixed ideas, living with a Taurus is not easy (I say this from experience) but at least it is not boring either. Thus, if you are a Taurus and you want to show your devotion to your zodiac sign, you can opt for a bull, yes, but also for its symbol, a round one with horns.
bull skull
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Before we said that the skulls of bulls are one of the symbols par excellence of the Native Americans to represent the strength, that is why it is so common see this type of tattoos accompanied by elements such as feathers, bows and arrows, sticks, desert landscapes or dream catchers. Without a doubt, bull skull tattoos look great in a realistic style, although do not rule out other styles such as the traditional one or even give it a touch of color.
Adorable baby bull tattoo
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Bullfighting tattoos can not only feature this animal in full force, but also other more adorable versions, for example, a baby bull. It can be a very good way to honor a child that you hope will be born healthy and strong, for example. According to its meaning, they are tattoos that can be represented both realistically and with a childish touch or even cartoon.
geometric torus
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We have already said that these tattoos are very versatile, so it is not surprising that a geometric touch also suits them very well. You can make the geometry not completely integrated into the design, but also integrate it to give the feeling that it is a sketch. This way you can give a very peculiar movement to the piece that, by the way, looks great in black and white.
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comic bulls
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And we continue with other styles that admit a lot of possibilities with this animal, which also allow you to give a more imaginative twist to the design, as in the photo, in which we see a hybrid of a deer and a bull. Take care of the details so that your piece makes a difference: here the color is a great idea, since it allows to highlight the fierce expression of the animal with intense red eyes, as well as the fur.
Other relatives of the bull
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And we finished without leaving aside other relatives of this strong man, for example, the buffalo, the oxen or the bison. They all share the antlers on their heads, although each of them has its own symbology and meaning.
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Bullfighting and bull tattoos give a lot of themselves and are very versatile, as you have seen in all these designs. Tell us, do you have a tattoo with this animal? What does it symbolize for you? Do you think we have left any meaning to comment?
