Parabiago Plate
Ancient Roman silver plate / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Parabiago plate, also known as the Parabiago patera,[lower-alpha 1] is an ancient Roman circular silver plate depicting mythological figures. It was found in an ancient Roman cemetery at Parabiago, near Milan, in 1907.[1] The plate depicts Cybele with her consort Attis in a "vast cosmic setting"[2] amid "sun, moon, earth and sea, time and the seasons."[3] At the time of its discovery, it was thought to have been used as a lid for a funerary amphora.[4]
The plate is difficult to date. Earlier scholars tended to date it to the 2nd century CE, because of its classicizing style, but stylistic characteristics also permit a later date. Technical analyses, however, support a provenance in the 4th–5th centuries, even though it bears little stylistic resemblance to other silver pieces from that period.[1]