“Mithras Relief” ( German: Mithras-Relief ) is an ancient Roman marble relief. Created in the 2nd half of the 2nd century . It is kept in the Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the Museum of the History of Art , Vienna (in.number I 624).
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| unknown | ||
| The relief of Miter . 2nd century | ||
| him. Mithras-relief | ||
| marble . Height 61 | ||
| Museum of the History of Art , Vienna | ||
The relief comes from the environs of Monastero, near Aquileia , and depicts a scene (killing a bull), a central scene from the cult of the deity of the sun and light of Mithras : the Mysteries of Mithras . The mystical religious cult around the god Mithras spread to the Roman army in the I - IV centuries . Information about this cult is mainly based on the interpretation of numerous preserved monuments. The most characteristic of them is the image of Mithra, who is born from a rock and sacrifices a bull.
Mithra looks up, waiting for a sign to kill the bull, while other solar deities are trying to drive the animal into the cave. The message was to bring a raven, from the image of which, there were only claws on the mantle of Mithra. Other animals attacking the bull are symbolically depicted: a dog and a snake drink his blood, and a scorpion tries to clutch its testicles with claws. Ears of wheat sprout from the tail of the bull. This scene symbolizes the power of the deity of light, which creates a new cosmic order, and at the same time, the cycle of death and birth. Two figures are depicted on the sides - torches , which symbolize the winter and summer solstices .
Literature
- Masterpieces in the Collection of the Greek and Roman Antiquities. A Brief Guide to the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna / Edited by . - Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum , 2012 .-- T. 4 .-- 271 p. - ISBN 978-3-99020-007-0 . (eng.)
Link
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