A rare Roman Gnostic amethyst intaglio. Anguipedal Leontocephalus with attributes.
13 x 18 x 5 mm
The magical creature has a radiate lion head (six rays), a human body with a military uniform and a robust serpent-shaped tail; in his right hand he holds a small dagger, in his left a lash with three ends (?). In the field: a crescent moon and a globe. The figure of the leontocephalus belongs to the religious iconography of Mithraism. This figure with a lion's head and human body also associated with the snake (the leontocephalus was depicted in sculpture or bas-relief with a large serpent coiled on its legs) is an image of Time that devours and consumes all things. The turns of the snake that surrounds it symbolize the cyclical nature of the astral movements that preside over time. The most frequent attributes are the torch, the scepter, the solar whip. A particularly interesting example is a gem with the leontocephalus that wears the armor and the military skirt, in the act of holding a sword and a Medusa head, to symbolize the defeat of the disease (Delatte, Etudes sur la magie, pp. 88- 90 nos. 36-37). This carving in amethyst instead shows the leontocefalo in military clothes but with a particularly muscular and intertwined serpentiform termination, bringing it closer to an interesting syncretism with the gnostic figure of the anguiped cock and of Chnoubis (radiated serpent-solar cults). This gem, considered a powerful magical amulet capable of defeating adversities and diseases to ensure salvation, is attributable to solar cults and oriental mystery ones; the artifact could be traced back to the Egyptian workshops. The carving is performed with skill. Attractive stone color. Signs of wear and chipping on the edge. Extremely rare iconography. For comparisons: A. Mastrocinque, Sylloge gemmarum gnosticarum, vol. I, pp. 264-269; G. Becatti Scavi di Ostia. 2.1, I mitrei di Ostia, Rome 1954; A. Mastrocinque, Studi sul Mitraismo (Mitraismo e Magia), Rome 1998; F. Cumont, Textes et Monuments figurés relatifs aux mystères de Mithra, Brussels 1896-1899; F. Cumont, Les mystères de Mithra, Brussels 1913; M. J. Vermaseren, Corpus inscriptionum et monumentorum religions dans ls Mithriacae, 2 vol. , Den Haag 1956-60; M. J. Vermaseren, Mithriaca, III, Leiden 1982 M. J. Vermaseren, Mithra the god of the Mysteries, Turin 2018.
2nd-3rd century AD.