CIMRM 479 - Tauroctony. Santa Prisca, Rome, Italy.

479. On the main side of the niche, there certainly was a representation in stucco of Mithras, slaying the bull. Parts of the flying cloak and the frout part of the jumping dog are preserved. A gilded head (H. 0.25) in Phrygian cap and turned to the right may have belonged to this group (see fig. 132). On the r. side of the niche, in stucco the front part of a foreshortened representation of Mithras with a white bull. The bull's breast and neck and Mithras' r.h. are preserved as well as the greater part of his flying cloak. On the l. side of the niche there must have been a representation as well, as a number of nail-holes prove. Ferrura suggests the scene on which Mithras climbs a tree, it seems to me however, that there was a representation of Mithras' rockbirth. Large parts of Mithras' red cloak are preserved; the head has been found in 1954. The border of the niche has been decorated with the heads of the seven planets. A head of Saturnus-Sarapis has been found near the entrance of the sacristy. It is bearded and supports a modius (H. 0.50). See fig. 133 and cf. No. 818.