This gospel was an offering of Matei Basarab, Prince of Wallachia and his wife Helena. Evangelists, prophets, and plaquettes with scenes from the Old and New Testament surround the main scenes on the cover, namely the Crucifixion and the Descent into Hades on the front, and the Dormition of the Mother of God on the back. This type of cover is widely encountered from the early decades of the seventeenth century until the early eighteenth century, and appears in a large number of variations in terms of quality of construction, the use of enamels, and their technique. This cover displayed in Sinai is the oldest dated such work.
