Tauroctony from Palazzo Mattei di Giove
TNMM 721 ↔ CIMRM 534
White marble relief (H. 0.95 Br. 1.85), walled in the Palazzo Mattei under the arches of the inner court, to the right of the entrance.
In a cave Mithras in the usual attitude and attire, slaying the bull. The dog and the serpent near the wound; the scorpion at the testicles; the raven on the rocky cave. Cautes with upraised torch stands behind the bull; Cautopates on the other side with his torch downwards. Both are cross-legged.
The upper half of the relief is restored: Mithras’ head; the upper border of the cave and two trees; the globe, on which the dog is standing; the greater part of the serpent. Mithras’ dagger and a part of Cautopates’ torch have got lost.
References
Monumenta Matheiana, Roma 1778, III, Pl. 1; Turre, Mon. Vet. Antii, 159; Zoega, Abh., 149 No. 22; Matz-v. Duhn III, 141 No. 3756; MMM II 218f No. 47 and fig. 49; RRR III, 299, 2. See fig. 150.
- Vermaseren, Maarten Jozef (1956) Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae
