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Monumentum

Tauroctony relief found between Porta Portese and St Pancrace

Franz Cumont bought this relief of Mithras as a bullkiller from a dealer who claimed to have found it in a vineyard near the church of Saint Pancrace, in Rome.
  • Tauroctony relief found between Porta Portese and St Pancrace.

    Tauroctony relief found between Porta Portese and St Pancrace.
    CIMRM

  • CIMRM 585

    CIMRM 585
    Vermaseren's Corpus

 
The New Mithraeum
24 Oct 2023

TNMM 671 ↔ CIMRM 585

Marble relief (H. 0.56 Br. 0.37 D. 0.10), bought in Rome by Cumont from a dealer, who claimed to have found it "dans une vigne entre la Porta Portese et l’eglise Saint Pancrace". Musée Cinquantenaire (Jubelpark Museum), No. 59 (A 9096).

Only the upper part of the relief has been preserved. Mithras, slaying the bull. The god wears the dagger’s sheath on his back; he looks at the raven, which is perched on his flying cloak. The dog’s head and the ears from the bull’s tail are still visible. Cautes (r) and Cautopates (l) ; the latter supports with his I.h. his chin.

In the upper corners the busts of Sol in radiate crown (l) and of Luna (r) with crescent behind her shoulders. Traces of red painting. A hole in the back of the relief points to a fastening in a wall. The upper rim shows a rocky working.

References

MMM II 480 No. 27bis and fig. 414; Cumont, Cat. Cinq., 76 No. 59 and fig. See fig. 162, kindly procured by the Direction of the Museum.

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