Relief fragment from Tivoli

TNMM 913 ↔ CIMRM 212

Fragment of a relief. Barbault, Rec. Mon., 4 who publishes an engraving of it among the monuments from Tivoli. So it may originate from this town. Lost. MMM II 409 No. 288.

Mithras as a bullkiller in a grotto. Dog, serpent and scorpion are present. The raven is seated on the rocks of the cave near the face of the god. On either side a torchbearer with upraised torch. The l. torchbearer picks the ears sprouting from the bull's tail. The handle of Mithras' dagger consists of two eagle's heads. In the upper corner Sol in a quadriga and in front of it two tree-trunks, the foliage of which is not visible.

As Cumont rightly observed, the engraving cannot be accurate. In making it, Barbault has been guided by the restored relief of the Capitole (No. 415).