This encolpion is representative of a large group of eighteenth century, double-sided woodcarving works that evolved from the older, two-panel panagiaria. The main subject, as in all panagiaria, is the Mother of God with Christ on her chest, a reference to the Incarnation, evident here with the Mother of God depicted as the Staff of the Tree of Jesse. On the back side we find the typical iconography of Christ as the Vine, a theme that stresses Christ’s supremacy in the Church 1746 hierarchy, a theme also frequently found on high-priest encolpia. The colorful mounting using filigree enamels is also typical of a group of crosses that date back to the second half of the eighteenth century.
