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This panel depicts a pagan priestess making an offering before an altar. It formed originally the left part of a diptych. The other part is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and depicts a similar figure standing before an altar and the inscription 'Symmachorum'.
It is generally thought that the diptych was made to celebrate a marriage, either in 393/4 or 401, between members of the Symmachi and Nicomacchi families. It could also signify these noble families' adherence to the ancient cults.
Both panels are of particular significance as members of the old senatorial families in Rome revived the pagan religion at the end of the fourth century, and had chosen an historicist neo-attic style. This is shown in the statuesque elegance and cold purity of the carving which creates the illusion of depth.
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