Santa Maria del Fiore, Firenze (Florence). Photo by Tommasso Cattabrini via Flickr (creative commons)

Today’s grotesque came to my attention via Atlas Obscura, a fantastic place to find fun, quirky facts and interesting locations to visit. This little bull figure lives on one side of the cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy. The church is heavily-laden with sculptural decorations of many styles and subjects, but this bull has a story separate from the rest. According to Atlas Obscura, there are two popular explanations for the bull’s existence:

“According to one version of the animal’s creation, it was said to be a tribute by the builders to the draft animals that were used during the building’s construction work. However there is another story that is a bit more curious, petty, and funny.

The local legend says that during the construction of the cathedral, one of the stonemasons had an affair with the wife of…