Gospel Cover, made by the Vatopedi hieromonk Constantine from Serres, year 1802

An elaborate Gospel cover (height 35 cm.), made in 1802 by the Vatopedi hieromonk Constantine of Serres, at his own expense. The work is decorated with Western-style depictions within spiral medallions, at the points of their union there are colored stones, and numerous Rococo motifs, such as clams, helices and flowers. In the center of the main face is depicted the Crucifixion, in the four corners an equal number of prophets, in smaller medallions scenes of the Passion and the Dodecahortos, while in the lower part is depicted the Vatopedi Monastery surrounded by a defensive wall. The arrangement of the subjects on the reverse is similar: in the center is the Resurrection, in the corners are the portraits of the four Evangelists with their symbols, and in the smaller medals are Christological scenes. This particular Gospel is a representative example of Eastern Rococo, as well as of the ideological and artistic turn towards Western standards that occurred after the mid-18th century.