The paper presents a reassessment of the well-known silver plate found in 1735 near the town of Corbridge, along Hadrian’s Wall, depicting a scene of divine epiphany and dated to the 4th century. The iconography of the lanx is still controversial and it is not even clear whether it is based on a well-defined text or whether it results from combining individual elements of classical culture into an unknown narrative. After briefly discussing previous readings, I will focus on the interpretation that links the lanx to Emperor Julian, also examining coeval epigraphic texts and discussing the methodological problem of identifying classical themes with paganism in the 4th century. In the second part, a possible source for the iconography will be proposed.
Per una rilettura della lanx di Corbridge
Agosti, Gianfranco
2022-01-01
Abstract
The paper presents a reassessment of the well-known silver plate found in 1735 near the town of Corbridge, along Hadrian’s Wall, depicting a scene of divine epiphany and dated to the 4th century. The iconography of the lanx is still controversial and it is not even clear whether it is based on a well-defined text or whether it results from combining individual elements of classical culture into an unknown narrative. After briefly discussing previous readings, I will focus on the interpretation that links the lanx to Emperor Julian, also examining coeval epigraphic texts and discussing the methodological problem of identifying classical themes with paganism in the 4th century. In the second part, a possible source for the iconography will be proposed.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
