Mithras on a horse
TNMM 574
Bronze statuette (6 cm high) of figure in Persian dress, mounted on a horse. Period of Caracalla, 2-3rd century, because the picture of the young horseman is like portraits of the young Caracalla. Made of bronze in two pieces and soldered together with lead. This is the only known representation of an equestrian Mithras in the round. The left hand, which must have held the reins, is missing. The right hand holds what seems to be a patera, recognisable by its central umbo, as in CIMRM 1289, rather than a globe as in CIMRM 334. The patera by itself is depicted at Ostia, CIMRM 299.
Provenance: Royal Athena Galleries (New York) sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1971.
References
Oikonomides Al. N. Mithraic Art. Chicago: 1975 pp. 85-91; figs. 30-32. Duchesne-Guillemin Marcelle. ’Une statuette equestre de Mithra’ Etudes Mithraiques: Actes du 2e Congres International Teheran 1-8 Septembre 1975. Acta Iranica IV pp. 201-204. Leiden: Brill 1978 pl. XIII.
- Getty (2022) Statuette of Mithras on Horseback.
- Marcelle Duchesne-Guillemin (1975) Une statuette équestre de Mithra. Études Mithraiques: Actes du 2e Congres International, Teheran, 1-8 Septembre 1975. Acta Iranica IV.
