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 scene shown here is from Greek mythology it shows Niobe's children being killed by Apollo (the sun god) and his sister Diana (the moon goddess). Niobe had boasted that she was better than the goddess Leto, mother of Apollo and Diana. She had seven sons and seven daughters whilst Leto only had one of each. Hearing these insulting remarks against their mother, Apollo and Diana proceeded to try and kill all of Niobe's children, Apollo killing the boys and Diana the girls. Niobe was horrified at what had happened and ran away to Mount Sipylis where she cried so hard that the gods turned her into a rock. Only one of Niobe's children escaped the wrath of the gods: Chloris, who would later marry Neleus. The other children remained unburied for ten days, until Apollo and Diana, unable to stand the sight any more, buried their victims.