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Monumentum

Aion of Mitreo Fagan

The marble Aion from the lost Mithraeum Fagan, Ostia, now presides the entrance to the Vatican Library.
  • Leontocéfalo del Mitreo Fagan

    Leontocéfalo del Mitreo Fagan
    The New Mithraeum / Andreu Abuín (CC BY-SA) 

  • Detalle del leontocéfalo del Mitreo Fagan

    Detalle del leontocéfalo del Mitreo Fagan
    The New Mithraeum / Andreu Abuín (CC BY-SA) 

 
 
The New Mithraeum
2 May 2010
Updated on Nov 2022
 

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White marble statue (H. 1.65 Br. 0.47), found in the Mithraeum Fagan, now beside the entrance of the Biblioteca Vaticana.

Standing naked figure with lion's head and wide open mouth. Behind his shoulders he has two small wings and two more on his hips. These wings have been placed in opposite directions and carry the symbols of the four seasons. They are decorated with a dove and a swan (top right), ears (top left), a buch of grapes (bottom left), two palms and a reed (bottom right).

The god is entwined in six coils of a serpent, which rests its head on the god's (Aion). On his breast a

Related monuments

Mitreo Fagan

The Mitreo Fagan revealed remarkable sculptures of leon-headed figures now exposed at the Vatican Museum.

Tauroctony marble from Mitreo Fagan

This sculpture of Mithras killing the bull was dedicated to the ’incomprehensible god’ by a certain priest called Gaius Valerius Heracles.

Aion relief of Mitreo Fagan

This white marble relief depicting a lion-headed figure from Ostia is now exposed at the Musei Vaticani.

Marble slab with inscription from Mitreo Fagan

This monument bears an inscription that describes the god Mithra as young, which is quite unusual.