Mithras Slaying the Bull Relief in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, January 2018

Relief of Mithras slaying the bull (Mithras Tauroctonos)
Roman
Imperial Period
about A.D. 125–175
Place of Manufacture: Italy, Lazio, Rome

Medium/Technique: Marble, from Carrara in northwest Italy

Dimensions: Overall: 65 × 85 × 11.1 cm (25 9/16 × 33 7/16 × 4 3/8 in.)

Credit Line: Gift of Edward Perry Warren

Accession Number: 92.2692

Collections: Ancient Greece and Rome

Classifications: Sculpture


Besides the traditional Olympian gods, Roman religion absorbed many foreign deities, some of whose cults involved mysterious rites kept secret from outsiders. Growing in popularity alongside Christianity, these "mystery cults" similarly promised a personal connection to a heavenly guardian. Some of these extinct sects have left behind fascinating works of art packed with religious symbolism, the meanings of which are often difficult to decipher.

The all-male cult of Mithras, a god of Indo-Iranian origin, became particularly popular with soldiers. Cave-like shrines, called mithraea, were set up throughout the Roman Empire, along military frontiers and in urban settings. This fragmentary marble relief, unusual for its monumental scale, costly material, and high-quality carving, probably adorned a shrine in Rome. All mithraea contained a version of this image, in which Mithras, wearing an eastern-style costume of leggings, a belted tunic, and a short cape, plunges a knife into the neck of a bull; a dog and a snake harass the dying animal from below. The scene may relate to a story from Zoroastrian mythology or chart constellations of stars.

The principal archaeological trace of the cult of Sabazios, a Thracian god associated with Dionysus, consists of about one hundred bronze sculptures in the form of human hands. Since Sabazios was worshiped primarily in houses and other makeshift settings, a desire for portability may explain why these hands were generally made smaller than life-size. Most are decorated with fauna, flora, and inanimate objects. Among the symbols visible in this view are a snake (coiled around the wrist and stretching up the back of the hand), a turtle (at the base of the thumb), an eagle (perched at the tips of the extended middle fingers), and a pinecone (on the tip of the thumb).

Catalogue Raisonné: Sculpture in Stone (MFA), no. 240; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 112 (additional published references); Highlights: Classical Art (MFA), p. 044-045.

Description: This relief shows an important scene from the life of Mithras, a god of Iranian origin whose cult had established itself in the Roman world by the second century A.D. The slaying of the bull terminated the god's heroic labors and served as the central image in the cults sanctuaries (known as mithraia). Mithras is shown here plunging a short sword into the bull's throat. He wears oriental costume, a belted tunic with overfold, tight sleeves, trousers, boots, and a short cloak fastened by a large round brooch.

The relief is broken away irregularly through the neck and cloak of Mithras, and on the right side by his right hand and including the bull's forefeet and the body of the dog. Both the raised right hand and the knife or short sword in the bull's throat are well preserved. A badly damaged, small strip of the molding survives on the right. The remaining surfaces are in superlative condition, with some root marks and a light yellow patina usually characteristic of Pentelic marble. Details such as the chasing or brocading on Mithras's footgear are as fresh as the day they were carved.

Scientific Analysis:
Harvard Lab No. HI772: Isotope ratios - delta13C +2.15 / delta18O -2.17, Attribution - Carrara, Justification - Very fine grained marble.

Provenance: By date unknown: with Edward Perry Warren (according to Sculpture in Stone: from Rome; said to have been found near the Ponte Palatino, in the river bed or bank); gift of Edward Perry Warren to MFA, September 1892


Text from: collections.mfa.org/objects/151238/relief-of-mithras-slaying-the-bull-mithras-tauroctonos