CIMRM Supplement - Fragment of mosaic, supposedly Mithras with attendants.

Fragment of mosaic, supposedly from Egypt, sold in Paris in 1905. Shows bare-headed man, said to be Mithras, emerging from cave attended by two men in Persian dress, accompanied by dogs and a bird.

"Mithras is generally depicted" [in the tauroctony] "flanked by his two attendants, Cautes and Cautopates, and accompanied by a dog, raven, snake, and scorpion. This central medallion from a floor mosaic depicts the birth of Mithras. Emerging from a dark cave, he is flanked by his two attendants, Cautes and Cautopates. Above him flies the raven, associated with the creation myth and with the first level of initiation into his cult." Period - 1st century (Roman) Medium - stone, glass tesserae (Mosaics & Cosmati) Accession Number - 43.7 Measurements - 23 7/8 in. (60.6 cm) (diam.); framed: 30 13/16 x 30 13/16 x 2 5/8 in. (78.3 x 78.2 x 6.7 cm) Geographies - Delta in Egypt (?) (Place of Origin) Location Within Museum - Centre Street: Second Floor: Roman Art Provenance - P. Philip et divers amateurs Sale, Paris, Hotel Drouot, 1905 [no. 583]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1921, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.