The material used to make this dish is known in Italy as maiolica. It is earthenware with a thick, opaque white surface called tin glaze. Maiolica was one of the first ceramics to be used specifically as a vehicle for painted decoration, either in lustre or in painted enamels.The plate is painted with the story of Cain and Abel, the first children of Adam and Eve, from the Biblical Old Testament. Cain was a farmer, Abel a herdsman. The two brothers are generally taken to represent the two principal societies of the ancient world - the settled farming communities and the nomadic tribal peoples - with their story being read as an allegory of the tension and conflict between the two cultures.The two brothers brought offerings to God. Cain a sheaf of corn, Abel a sacrificial lamb. God accepted Abel's offering, but refused that of Cain. In his anger at God's rejection of his offering, Cain killed his brother while they were in the fields. God subsequently condemned Cain to be an outcast, and put a mark on him, so that he should be recognised and his crime known, wherever he wandered. As with many narrative scenes from the middle ages and Renaissance, several elements of the story are concentrated into one image. Here, God is shown in the top of the picture accepting the smoke rising from Abel's altar, while in the foreground, Cain is clubbing Abel to death.