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Lead votive plaque

probably 3rd century CE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 169
The plaque contains a complex iconography of divine figures and symbols, probably to be associated with Thracian or Dacian beliefs of the Lower Danube region. Presiding over the whole scene is Sol Invictus (the invicible sun-god) in a quadriga (four-horse chariot). His cult originated in the Near East and gained increasing influence under imperial patronage during the third century A.D. The state worship of Sol was only supplanted by Constantine's adoption of Christianity in A.D. 312.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Lead votive plaque
  • Period: Imperial
  • Date: probably 3rd century CE
  • Culture: Roman
  • Medium: Lead
  • Dimensions: H.: 3 3/4 x 3 1/16 in. (9.5 x 7.8 cm)
  • Classification: Miscellaneous-Lead
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1921
  • Object Number: 21.88.175
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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