The handle depicts the triumphal return of Dionysus from India, an important aspect of the mystery cult, symbolizing triumph over death. The scene occurs frequently on contemporary Roman sarcophagi, but here the procession is shown in the context of Roman trophies, captives, and weapons.
Artwork Details
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Title:Silver handle from a serving dish
Period:Mid-Imperial, Severan
Date:early 3rd century CE
Culture:Roman
Medium:Silver
Dimensions:length (preserved) 22.71 cm
Classification:Gold and Silver
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1954
Accession Number:54.11.8
[Until 1954, with Abdullah J. Hakim, Iran]; acquired in 1954, purchased from Abdullah J. Hakim.
Alexander, Christine. 1955. "A Roman Silver Relief: The Indian Triumph of Dionysos." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 14(3): pp. 64–67.
Harper, Prudence. 1965. "The Heavenly Twins." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 23(5): p. 189, fig. 3.
Strong, Donald. 1966. Greek and Roman Gold and Silver Plate. p. 171, pl. 47b, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
McCann, Anna Marguerite. 1978. Roman Sarcophagi in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 88, fig. 99, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Baratte, Francois. 1984. "A propos d'une coupe en argent trouvée en Gaule: remarques sur une technique particulière dans l'orfèvrerie romaine." Revue du Nord, LXVI: pp. 225–226, fig. 6.
Pirzio Biroli Stefanelli, Lucia. 1991. L'argento dei Romani : Vasellame da tavola e d'apparato. no. 117, pp. 194, 280, fig. 192, Rome: L'Erma di Bretschneider.
Picón, Carlos A. 2007. Art of the Classical World in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Greece, Cyprus, Etruria, Rome no. 464, pp. 395, 496, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
La Rocca, Eugenio, Claudio Parisi Presicce, and Annalisa Lo Monaco. 2015. L'età dell'angoscia : da Commodo a Diocleziano : 180-305 d.C. no. n. V.4, pp. 290, 427, Rome: MondoMostre.
Tortorella, Stephano. 2018. "L'Artigianato Artistico." Roma Universalis : L'impero e la dinastia venuta dall'Africa, Alesandro D'Alessio, ed. pp. 83, 85, fig. 3, Rome: Electa.
Zanker, Paul, Seán Hemingway, Christopher S. Lightfoot, and Joan R. Mertens. 2019. Roman Art : A Guide through the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Collection. no. 56, pp. 143, 152–53, New York: Scala Publishers.
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The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than 30,000 works ranging in date from the Neolithic period to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312.