Glass casting cameos, used as substitutes for precious stones, were mass-produced items manufactured as amulets or mementos from the Holy Land. Today, translucent cameos are considered to originate from Constantinople and to be of a somewhat earlier date (eleventh - thirteenth century), while larger, opaque cameos with Western features, such as this enkolpion from Sinai, are attributed to thirteenth century Venice workshops. Two angels, facing each other on the top row, incline over a fleur-de-lis. In the middle row, Christ Pantokrator is flanked by apostles Bartholomew and Mark. In the lower row we find apostles Jacob, Phillip, and Peter identified by Latin inscriptions, as the other three figures. The silver mounting was added later (seventeenth century).
