Monumentum
Tauroctony relief with lion from Pohanica
Bachern marble tauroctony relief from the Mithraeum at Pohanica, Noricum, notable for the prominent inclusion of a lion entering from the left — an unusual compositional element — alongside the standard dog, serpent, and torchbearers.
Tauroctony relief with lion from PohanicaCIMRM
The New Mithraeum
28 May 2026
TNMM 2311 ↔ CIMRM 1458
Relief in Bachern marmor (H. 0.50 Br. 0.67 D. 0.125–0.165). Graz, Joanneum. Schmid, o.c., and figs. 3–5. See fig. 372.
Mithras kills the bull in a grotto. The dog and the serpent hold their heads towards the wound. The lion, entering from the left is very remarkable. Cautes (r) and Cautopates (l) with their torches. In the l. upper corner the bust of Sol with a whip; the quadriga is only suggested by four horses' heads. In the r. upper corner Luna with a whip in a crescent. She too stands in a car, the greater part of which is lost.
In the l. side-piece of the relief in a medallion a small rough face has been carved, another, somewhat larger head in its r. side-piece. The meaning of these heads is not clear.
References
- Vermaseren, Maarten Jozef (1956) Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae
