Description

The god Mithras, dressed in a belted undergarment and a Phrygian cap, carries a bull on his back. He grabbed the living animal, whose head reached almost to the ground, by its hind legs. A tree is visible in the background.

Mithras was worshiped in a secret cult that arose in Rome towards the end of the 1st century AD. The hunt for a bull, which Mithras catches and kills in a cave, plays a prominent role in the cult. The killing of the wild bull is considered a healing act and the beginning of new life. The relief was placed in a Mithraic temple in Stockstadt am Main and dates from the later 2nd century AD.