Uccidere il dio. Presenze iraniche nel Battistero di Parma e oltre
Abstract
The Manichean Cosmogony and its links to the Iranian God Mithra are the starting points in studying some specific representations of the Romanesque church art. The devotion to Mithra, which is widely spread in the Hellenistic world,
assumed shapes and uses of a mysteric religion. The art of its cult areas, the Mithraea, influenced Christian art, not only in its origins. An example are the sculptured figures on the portal of the Baptistry in Parma, a masterpiece of Romanesque art, where the episode of the celestial apotheosis of Mithra, linked to its astrological background, relives.