Silver dish embossed with Aeneas' escape from Troy, by Gabriel Felling, 1687-95

NARRATOR: Look closely at the silver dish in this case, and you can see a picture of an ancient story. In the middle is Aeneas, a Trojan prince. He is carrying on his back his aged father, and behind him walks his young son. They are refugees, fleeing for their lives. If you look at the upper-left corner, you can see what they are escaping from. It's the city of Troy, its proud towers engulfed by smoke and flames. Troy is being attacked and burned by the Greeks, after a long and bitter war. If you look very carefully at the middle of the city wall, you can see an open gateway, through which the Greeks will conquer Troy. On the right-hand side of the picture is the ship in which Aeneas sailed to Italy, where after many adventures he founded the city of Rome. This scene shown on the dish is from a great poem which tells the story of Aeneas, written almost two thousand years ago by the Roman author Virgil. Here is how he describes Aeneas' escape from Troy.

AENEAS: I stooped to lift my father. My son twined his fingers in mine, hurrying to keep up with his father's long stride. We moved off, hugging the shadows. I, who just now had faced the Greek spears... without turning a hair - I was scared by every breeze, alarmed by every sound, so strung up was I with anxiety for my burden and my companion. And now I was nearing the gates and thinking we had made it, when on a sudden there came to my ears the sound of many footsteps - or so it seemed. Then peering into the gloom, my father exclaimed; - Run, they're upon us, run Aeneas....!

NARRATOR: This story of family loyalty was still famous hundreds of years later in England. In 1687, William Martin chose the tale to decorate this dish as a present to his great grandson known today only by his initials J.H. which are on the underside of the dish.