Tauroctony of Naples

White marble relief (H. 1.06 Br. 1.00 D. 0.12). Neapoli, apud illustrissimum ducem Calabriae, advectum ex Pausilippo (Iucundus, end 15th cent.) or, according to Capacius, in media crypta Pausilypana dum instauretur fuisse inventum dictitant. Subsequently in St. Antonio’s Church, then Museum Capodimonti, now Naples, Museo Nazionale (Inv. No. 6764).

Mithras kills the bull, whose tail ends in four ears. The god is dressed in tunica, flying cloak and anaxyrides. Round his breast an embroidered girdle. He looks at Sol. The snake with its head near the wound; a deformed small dog; the scorpion
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