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Hand of Sabazios
Roman
Imperial Period
2nd–3rd century A.D.
Medium/Technique
Bronze
Dimensions
Height x width x depth: 14.5 x 4.4 x 4 cm (5 11/16 x 1 3/4 x 1 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Benjamin and Lucy Rowland Fund
Accession Number2006.1893
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
Besides the traditional Olympian gods, Roman religion absorbed many foreign deities, some of whose cults involved mysterious rites kept secret from outsiders. Growing in popularity alongside Christianity, these "mystery cults" similarly promised a personal connection to a heavenly guardian. Some of these extinct sects have left behind fascinating works of art packed with religious symbolism, the meanings of which are often difficult to decipher.
The all-male cult of Mithras, a god of Indo-Iranian origin, became particularly popular with soldiers. Cave-like shrines, called mithraea, were set up throughout the Roman Empire, along military frontiers and in urban settings. This fragmentary marble relief, unusual for its monumental scale, costly material, and high-quality carving, probably adorned a shrine in Rome. All mithraea contained a version of this image, in which Mithras, wearing an eastern-style costume of leggings, a belted tunic, and a short cape, plunges a knife into the neck of a bull; a dog and a snake harass the dying animal from below. The scene may relate to a story from Zoroastrian mythology or chart constellations of stars.
The principal archaeological trace of the cult of Sabazios, a Thracian god associated with Dionysus, consists of about one hundred bronze sculptures in the form of human hands. Since Sabazios was worshiped primarily in houses and other makeshift settings, a desire for portability may explain why these hands were generally made smaller than life-size. Most are decorated with fauna, flora, and inanimate objects. Among the symbols visible in this view are a snake (coiled around the wrist and stretching up the back of the hand), a turtle (at the base of the thumb), an eagle (perched at the tips of the extended middle fingers), and a pinecone (on the tip of the thumb).
The all-male cult of Mithras, a god of Indo-Iranian origin, became particularly popular with soldiers. Cave-like shrines, called mithraea, were set up throughout the Roman Empire, along military frontiers and in urban settings. This fragmentary marble relief, unusual for its monumental scale, costly material, and high-quality carving, probably adorned a shrine in Rome. All mithraea contained a version of this image, in which Mithras, wearing an eastern-style costume of leggings, a belted tunic, and a short cape, plunges a knife into the neck of a bull; a dog and a snake harass the dying animal from below. The scene may relate to a story from Zoroastrian mythology or chart constellations of stars.
The principal archaeological trace of the cult of Sabazios, a Thracian god associated with Dionysus, consists of about one hundred bronze sculptures in the form of human hands. Since Sabazios was worshiped primarily in houses and other makeshift settings, a desire for portability may explain why these hands were generally made smaller than life-size. Most are decorated with fauna, flora, and inanimate objects. Among the symbols visible in this view are a snake (coiled around the wrist and stretching up the back of the hand), a turtle (at the base of the thumb), an eagle (perched at the tips of the extended middle fingers), and a pinecone (on the tip of the thumb).
Catalogue Raisonné
Highlights: Classical Art (MFA), p. 044.
DescriptionHollow-cast in the form of a human wrist and right hand with long, thin fingers, thumb, index- and middle-fingers extended, ring-finger and pinky bent into the palm. A snake is coiled around the wrist and stretches across the back of the hand, its head the projecting above the knuckle of the ring-finger; also on the back of the hand are a frog and a lizard, as well as several inanimate objects: below the snake, a braided whip; above the snake, two flutes (one straight, one curved) at left, and a pair of cymbals at right. On the side of the hand, just below the thumb, a turtle; on the tip of thumb, a pinecone. On the front side of the wrist, right of center, an offering table. At the base of palm, a disc-shaped object, probably a loaf of bread; in the center of the palm, an egg-shaped object, perhaps another pinecone. Extending between the tips of the index- and middle- fingers, an eagle, perched on a stylized thunderbolt. Sabazios Hand is part of the worship of a Thracian/Anatolian deity connected with Jupiter; hands like these stood in sanctuaries attached to poles and were carried in processions.
ProvenanceGeorges Gorse (b. 1915 - d. 2002), France. July 12, 2005, anonymous sale, Drouot-Richelieu, Paris, sold to Charles Ede, Ltd., London; 2006. sold by Ede to the MFA. (Accession date: December 13, 2006)