No bull, the Covent Garden monster

Standing more than 11ft tall, from today he will dominate the entrance to the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

This statue of the Minotaur, the mythological creature that was half-man and half-bull, has been unveiled to mark the premiere of Sir Harrison Birtwistle's operatic version of the story next week.

The resin and graphite sculpture is the work of Irishborn artist Tim Shaw, who travelled to archaeological sites across Greece, including Delphi, Olympia and Mycenae, for inspiration.

In Greek mythology, the Minotaur was the monstrous offspring of Queen Pasiphae of Crete and lived at the centre of the labyrinth, a maze commissioned by her husband, King Minos, to conceal him.

Shaw said: "I wanted to create a large, still watchful mass that contains a restless and intense energy - with a trace of humanity perceptible within its eye."

The Minotour, Sir Harrison's second opera commissioned by the ROH, opens next Tuesday and runs until 3 May. Shaw's sculpture will be on display until 21 July.