Two seated philosophers, labeled Ptolemy and Hermes, engage in a
spirited discussion on this fragmentary plate. A woman stands
behind each man, gesturing and partaking in the exchange. The
woman on the left is identified as Skepsis. Above the two seated
men, an unidentified enthroned man is partially preserved. The
scene on this plate has been interpreted as an allegory of the
debate between Myth and Science: Ptolemy, the founder of the
Alexandrian school of scientific thought, debating Hermes
Trismegistos, a deity supporting the side of myth. On technical,
iconographic, and stylistic grounds, some scholars had
questioned the authenticity of this plate and suggested that it
may date instead to the 1500s A.D. More recent, detailed study
of the plate, however, has confirmed its antiquity. The plate
was probably found in the sea along with the plate with a
fisherman.