CIMRM Supplement - Tauroctony on bronze plaque. New York.


Mithras, unusually looking forward rather than over his shoulder, stabs the bull whose blood gushes from the wound. The snake leaps up to drink it, with the dog doing the same to the right. The scorpion grabs the bull's genitalia. To the top left is Sol, with rayed crown; to the right Luna with a crescent. Six holes have been punched in the plaque.

Information from catalogue.

The following details come from the museum web page:

Overall: 14 x 11 5/8 x 1 3/4 in. (35.6 x 29.5 x 4.4 cm) Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1997 (1997.145.3)

Plaque of Mithras slaying the bull | 2nd or early 3rd century A.D.; Mid-Imperial | Roman | Bronze | (1997.145.3)

"Plaque of Mithras slaying the bull [Roman] (1997.145.3)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000.

"Recent Acquisitions: A Selection, 1996-1997," The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 55, no. 2 (Fall, 1997). On JSTOR.

Height: 14in (35.6 cm). Late 2nd-early 3rd century.


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