Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
ADJUNCT MODULE A: ITALIAN ART
Preferred Title:
Mithras Killing the Bull
Alternate Title:
Tauroctony
Image View:
Overall view of statue, missing head and hands of Mithras; below scorpion attacks the testicles of the bull and a dog licks the blood
Creator:
unknown (Roman (ancient))
Location:
repository: Musei Vaticani (Rome (Vatican City), Santa Sede (Holy See), Italy)
Location Note:
Pio Clementino Museum, Hall of Animals
GPS:
41.906389 12.454444
Date:
ca. 1st to 4th centuries CE. (creation)
Cultural Context:
Roman (ancient)
Style Period:
Imperial (Roman)
Work Type 1:
sculpture (visual work)
Classification:
sculpture
Material:
marble
Technique:
carving (processes)
Description:
The Mithraic Mysteries were a mystery religion practiced in the Roman Empire from about the 1st to 4th centuries CE. The mysteries were popular in the Roman military. About 420 sites have yielded materials related to the cult, including over 700 examples of the bull-killing scene (tauroctony). It has been estimated that there would have been at least 680 mithraea (underground cave-like temple spaces) in Rome alone. The practice of depicting the god slaying a bull seems to be specific to Roman Mithraism, not to any of the Persian or Zoroastrian sources. (Source: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Main_Page)
Collection:
Adjunct Module A: Italian Art
Identifier:
7A3-R-VM-MKN-A01
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.

Mithras Killing the Bull