An embossed silver plate, about 390 millimeters across and weighing 3,555 grams, found in 1907 at a Roman cemetery near Parabiago, Italy, and held by the Archaeological Museum of Milan. Its dating is disputed, a 2nd-century CE date argued on style against a 4th-to-5th-century CE date supported by technical analysis. At the center Cybele rides a chariot drawn by four lions beside her consort, accompanied by three Corybantes, within a wider cosmic scene, a youth holding a zodiac ring around the god Aion, the Sun and Moon in their own chariots with the morning and evening stars, river nymphs, the ocean deities Oceanus and Tethys, the seasons as Erotes, and the earth goddess Tellus with her attendants, a devotional image placing Cybele at the center of the Roman cosmos.
Facts
Subject Matter
Devotional FunctionSourced to the subject's own accountDespite its densely religious imagery, most scholars read the plate as a luxury silver display object made for a wealthy Roman household rather than a functional cult implement, comparable to other large decorated silver plates produced as elite gifts and domestic display pieces in late antiquity; its scale and thinness suit table or wall display rather than altar use. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Milan, Cities This source names Milan directly: "held by the Archaeological Museum of Milan."
This source names Oceanus directly: "stars, river nymphs, the ocean deities Oceanus and Tethys, the seasons as Erotes, and the earth goddess Tellus with her attendants, a devotional image placing Cybele at the center of the Roman cosmos."
This source names Oceanus directly: "stars, river nymphs, the ocean deities Oceanus and Tethys, the seasons as Erotes, and the earth goddess Tellus with her attendants, a devotional image placing Cybele at the center of the Roman cosmos."
This source names Tethys directly: "nymphs, the ocean deities Oceanus and Tethys, the seasons as Erotes, and the earth goddess Tellus with her attendants, a devotional image placing Cybele at the center of the Roman cosmos."
This source names Tethys directly: "nymphs, the ocean deities Oceanus and Tethys, the seasons as Erotes, and the earth goddess Tellus with her attendants, a devotional image placing Cybele at the center of the Roman cosmos."
Belongs to Tradition
Depicts
The plate's central and largest figure, enthroned in her lion-drawn chariot at the heart of a Roman cosmic scene, Roman devotional art's own image of the Great Mother, on display at the Archaeological Museum of Milan.
Sources
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