The central scene on this plate depicts an incident from Virgil's epic poem The Aeneid: the future founding of Rome revealed to Aeneas in a dream. Here the story is perhaps meant as an allegory relating to Vespasiano Gonzaga (1531-1591), an Italian nobleman who began to rebuild the city of Sabbioneta in the 1550s.

The allegorical figures and emblems on the rim, rare on maiolica, were frequent elements in compositions for Renaissance prints, books, tapestries, and mural paintings.