LOT 0154

Roman Marble Figure of a Phrygian Deity on Horseback

CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

10 in. (4.3 kg, 25.5 cm).

The rider, Mithras-Sabatios, wearing a distinctive knee-length belted tunic and Persian trousers, with a riding cloak secured at each shoulder and the end folded over as a cowl; the left hand gathering the reins and the right extending a patera in offering; the horse surmounting a capital, with its remains preserved beneath the belly; mounted on a custom-made stand.

Private collection, Bavaria, since the 1980s.
Anonymous Sale; Gorny & Mosch, 29 June 2011, no.234.
Acquired by the present owner at the above sale.

Accompanied by a copy of the relevant Gorny & Mosch catalogue pages.
Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12965-245245.

Cf. for a similar statuette in bronze in the collections of J. Paul Getty Museum, Mithras-Sabatios on horseback, acc. no. 71.AB.160; see two similar statuettes in the archaeological Museum of Afyonkarahisar (figs.1-2), inv.nos.74490; see also Mackintosh, M., The Divine Horseman in the Art of the Western Roman Empire, The Open University, 1992.

The composition closely recalls a small bronze of Mithras on horseback in the J. Paul Getty Museum (Getty Villa), acc. no. 71.AB.160. The rider's Eastern (Persian) costume suggests his identification with Mithras, the focus of a mystery religion which spread among the Roman legions from the 1st century BC onwards. The horse appears to be passing over a column, indicating that the piece likely formed part of a larger furniture mount or architectural fitting. If so, this would be an exceptionally rare representation, as equestrian images of Mithras are markedly less common than the familiar tauroctony.