Plate with twin figures and winged horses. Iran (Sassanian), 5th-6th century. Silver with mercury gilding

The plate is repaired and a small area of the background, above and behind the winged horse on the viewer's right, is restored in modern silver. As is characteristic of Sassanian silver plate, all parts of the design in high relief are composed of separate pieces of silver. These were inserted into slots cut up from the background shell. The edges of the slots were then crimped over the inlaid parts.

Two male figures, each nude except for a cloak drawn across the shoulder, stand on plinths and hold spears in one hand while in the other hand they grasp the jeweled reins of their winged mounts. The confronted horses bend their necks downward to drink from a jar supported by the half figure of a female. A row of leaves spreads outward from her waist, giving the impression that she is rising from the earth. Between the wings of the horses, a small musician playing a stringed instrument sits cross-legged with his head turned in profile to the right.

Nudity occurs in Sassanian art only where the figures are derived from Western prototypes. The form of the horses' wings, the appearance of the youths' heads, the floral decoration of the plinths, and the drapery of the female accord well with images on Sassanian seal stones, stucco plaques, and silver vessels ranging in date from the fifth to the seventh century. These details do not support the date in the late Parthian period proposed by Koshelenko(1968, p. 269) and Ghirshman (1974, p. 166).

A possible interpretation is that the youths and their winged horses are an illustration of one of the twelve constellations created by the chief Zoroastrian divinity, Ahura Mazda—the Two Figures (Harper, 1965, p. 195). The scene, unique in Sassanian art, may be modeled on Late Antique illustrations of the Dioscuri. In the Iranian representation, however, the horses are winged, a variation of the Western prototype. The twins themselves, nude and with dots in the centers of their foreheads, are surely intended to be superhuman figures. In Zoroastrian texts the stars are associated with rain, water, and plants, and this may explain the personified figure of a spring from which the horses drink.

The depiction of these horses as winged has led Ettinghausen (1972) and Ghirshman (1974) to conclude that this scene is derived from representations of Pegasus and Bellerophon. The duplication of the subject on the Sassanian plate, however, requires some explanation. Mirror images were not commonly used in Sassanian art simply for reasons of design. It is probable that the artist intended to represent a pair of figures. Any interpretation of the scene should therefore explain the presence of twins. The controversy surrounding the meaning of this scene often occurs with Sassanian subjects adapted from Western motifs, and it is possible that in this instance, as in others, the iconography developed from more than one Western source.

Allegedly found in Iran. Bibliography: Harper, 1965, pp. 186-195; Koshelenko, 1968, pp. 266-269; Ettinghausen, 1972, pp. 11-16; Ghirshman, 1974, pp. 163-167.