Parabiago Plate

The Parabiago plate, also known as the Parabiago patera,

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]

Description

The plate weighs 3555 g and measures 390 mm in diameter. It has a foot-ring of 26 mm in height. The surface is worked with figures in high relief.^[1]

Center left:
Corybantes
.
Center right: Rising from the ground is a nude youth who holds up a
chiton and holding a sceptre.^[5]

Far right center: A snake twines around an obelisk or gnomon.^[6]
Upper left: The Sun rising in his chariot, preceded by the winged, torch-bearing morning star, Phosphorus.
Upper right: The Moon setting in her chariot (biga), preceded by the evening star, Hesperus, also winged and carrying a torch.
Lower center: Four
erotes representing the seasons hover above Oceanus and Tethys
.

Lower left: Two river nymphs.

Lower right:

erotes

who point toward Cybele. Above the head of Tellus is a small grasshopper and a lizard.

Footnotes

^ However, it is a ‘plate’, not a patera.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Ruth E. Leader-Newby (2004) Silver and Society in Late Antiquity: Functions and Meanings of Silver Plate in the Fourth to Seventh Centuries, Ashgate, p 146
^ Giulia Sfameni Gasparro (1985) Soteriology and Mystic Aspects in the Cult of Cybele and Attis, Brill, p 99
^ John Ferguson (1970, 1985) The Religions of the Roman Empire, Cornell University Press, p 26
^ Arthur Bernard Cook (1940) edition, (2010) reprinting, Zeus, Cambridge University Press, vol 3, plt 2, pp 1127–1128
^ Danuta Shanzer (1986) A Philosophical and Literary Commentary on Martianus Capella's De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercuii, Book 1, University of California Press, pp 159–160
^ Jaime Alvar Ezquerra (2008) Romanising Oriental Gods: Myth, Salvation, and Ethics in the Cults of Cybele, Brill, p 140

[1] However, it is a ‘plate’, not a patera.

[Leader-Newby-2004-2] Ruth E. Leader-Newby (2004) Silver and Society in Late Antiquity: Functions and Meanings of Silver Plate in the Fourth to Seventh Centuries, Ashgate, p 146

[Gasparro-1985-3] Giulia Sfameni Gasparro (1985) Soteriology and Mystic Aspects in the Cult of Cybele and Attis, Brill, p 99

[Ferguson-1970-1985-4] John Ferguson (1970, 1985) The Religions of the Roman Empire, Cornell University Press, p 26

[Cook-1940-2010-5] Arthur Bernard Cook (1940) edition, (2010) reprinting, Zeus, Cambridge University Press, vol 3, plt 2, pp 1127–1128

[Shanzer-1986-6] Danuta Shanzer (1986) A Philosophical and Literary Commentary on Martianus Capella's De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercuii, Book 1, University of California Press, pp 159–160

[Ezquerra-2008-7] Jaime Alvar Ezquerra (2008) Romanising Oriental Gods: Myth, Salvation, and Ethics in the Cults of Cybele, Brill, p 140

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