Tauroctony from Santo Domingo de Silos

TNMM 763

In the upper left corner of the Pórtico del Cordero in the Benedictine Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos, near Burgos, Spain, we find what is thought to be a representation of Mithras as a bull slayer.

The relief is part of a series of twelve square panels depicting the signs of the zodiac, with Mithras Tauroctonus being Capricorn. The Oriental god appears completely naked, except for his usual cloak. Instead of his Phrygian cap, he wears a turban, as seems to have been common in medieval iconography, if we compare this representation with the other two known to date, on a fresco of the Aula Gotica in Rome and on a sculpted capital in the Cathedral of Santa Maria Nuova de Monreale in Sicily.

As is often the case, Mithras averts his gaze from the killing while holding the bull’s head, in this case by one of its horns. Contrary to the Roman depiction, Mithras appears to mount the bull as he kills it, rather than kneecap it.

The snake, which usually rises to lick the blood of the beast, has been transformed into the tail of the bull. Other elements such as the scorpion, the dog or the crow have been omitted. However, the seven spheres around the central image recall the importance of the seven classical planets and perhaps the seven grades in the cult of Mithras.