Encolpion of Makarios, Metropolitan of Corinth (1507-1517), early 16th century.

Small reliquary (height 6 cm.), dating from the early 16th century. It is the only work of miniature art of the first post-Byzantine centuries preserved in the sacristy of the Vatopedi Monastery. According to an inscription on the sides of the reliquary, it belonged to the metropolitan of Corinth, and later of Thessaloniki, Makarios, who became a monk in the Monastery. Its shape is almost square and has a drawer-like appearance. Both sides are surrounded by a frame, which, like its suspension ring, is made of smooth wire. On the main side of the reliquary, and despite the narrowness of the space, the iconographic type of the Resurrection, known from monumental painting, is developed in two zones. The representation includes elements such as the dance of angels and the symbols of the Passion, which give it an eschatological character and make it a foreshadowing of the coming Judgment. In the Paleologue monuments, this particular type of Resurrection was associated with sponsors and hierarchs, who, like Makarios of Corinth, possessed a special philosophical and ecclesiastical education. The reverse side depicts Jesus enthroned surrounded by the Virgin Mary and the Immaculate Conception. This is a concise depiction of the scene of All Saints, which has been detached from the Second Coming and presents the Prayer with dances of angels, righteous people and saints. In the upper part of the representation is the inscription; “THE CONGRESS OF THE UNCOMMON, THE CONGRESS OF ALL SAINTS”.