Skull of a Cyclops

This huge skull with a circumference of about one and a half meters upsets our certainties. Mysteriously called Skull of a Cyclops, it has many organically-shaped cavities, one of which is central and isolated. Is this the skull of a mythical being or a prehistoric animal? Or is it an ancient or recent human creation?

Damien Hirst deliberately made this Carrara marble sculpture to look enigmatic. The title muddies the waters by taking inspiration from an age-old tradition. Guided by the imperious need of human beings to explain the indecipherable, the Ancients developed complex myths to account for the discovery of fossils and bones of unknown animals.

Hirst's Skull of a Cyclops was presented for the first time by the Pinault Collection at the 2017 show "Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable" at the Punta della Dogana.