Intaglio with Mithras Slaying the Bull and the God Abraxas Set in a Mount

2nd-3rd century CE (Roman Imperial)

2.7 cm 1.9 cm 0.5 cm

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One side of this intaglio bears a depiction of the god Abraxas, a rooster-headed and snake-tailed Gnostic deity. He holds a whip in his right hand and a shield with “ΙΑΩ” inscribed on it in his left. On the other side of the gem is Mithras, the Persian god of light, dressed in...

Artifact

id
id
40013
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contentType
object
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stage
normalized
provenance
provenance
George Spencer, fourth Duke of Marlborough, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, by 1817, by purchase [Marlborough nos. 278 and 287]; George Spencer-Churchill, fifth Duke of Marlborough, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, 1817, by bequest; George Spencer-Churchill, sixth Duke of Marlborough, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, 1840, by bequest; John Spencer-Churchill, seventh Duke of Marlborough, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, 1857, by bequest; Sale, The Marlborough Gems, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 28 June 1875, pp. 44 and 46, lots 278 and 287; David Bromilow, Bitteswell Hall, Leicestershire, ca. 1875, by purchase; Julia Bromilow Jary, Bitteswell Hall, Leicestershire, 1898, by bequest; Sale, The Marlborough Gems Purchased by the Late David Bromilow, esq., Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 26 June 1899, p. 50, lot 278; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1899, by purchase [Dikran Kelekian as agent]; Sadie Jones (Mrs. Henry Walters), New York, 1931, by bequest; Joseph Brummer, Paris and New York, 1941, by purchase [Brummer inv. no. N5143a]; Walters Art Museum, 1942, by purchase.
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CC0
language
language
en
pageCount
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4
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source
import
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imageCount 4
sourceUrl https://purl.thewalters.org/art/42.868