Icon of Panagia Eleovrytissa with relief inlay, late 13th-early 14th century (the inlay), last quarter of the 14th century (the icon)

The miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary of Olives, which follows the type of Hodegetria, has a silver lining, almost intact. The “shirt” of the icon covers as a single whole the depth, the frame and the strip that separates it from the depth, as well as the halos of the figures, the decoration of which has been completed with deep blue enamel. The largest surface is covered with floral and geometric ornaments, rendered in low relief, while in the middle of each side of the frame there are perforated buttons inscribed in squares. In the three corners of the frame, an equal number of compartments are preserved, in which the prophet Isaiah, Saint John the Baptist and the apostle Matthew are depicted in low relief and with engravings. The work is dated, based on comparisons with other inlays, to the late 13th or early 14th century, and therefore was not originally intended for the icon of the Olive Press. It is one of the best examples of inlays of this period, influenced by sculpture, for the construction of which various techniques were combined.