Large Sakkos of Photius

The Large Sakkos of Photius is a satin tunic embroidered with gold and silver thread and decorated with silk and pearl ornament, approximately 4 ft 5 in long. It is held in the Kremlin Armoury in Moscow, Russia. It is a luxury item created in the late Byzantine era for Photius, Metropolitan of Moscow around 1417.

Large Sakkos of Photius, ca. 1417

The satin sakkos is embroidered with gold and silver thread and colored silks outlined with pearls. Dozens of religious and secular figures appear on the sakkos in an array of rectilinear, L-shaped, cruciform, and circular frames. The Crucifixion dominates the center of the front, and below is the Anastasis ("the Resurrection"). All around are various Orthodox Church feasts and figures of saints, as well as Old Testament scenes, including the binding of Isaac, linked with the Crucifixion of Christ.

Also portrayed are the Grand Prince of Moscow, Vasily Dimitrievich and his wife Sophia Vitovtovna (labeled in Russian), as well as the future emperor John VIII Palaeologus and his wife Anna Vasilyevna (named in Greek). Beside John is Photius, Metropolitan of Kiev and all Rus'. The sakkos also contains the earliest known depiction of Ss. Anthony, John, and Eustathius, the Three Martyrs of Vilnius.

Needleworkers most likely embroidered the sakkos between the time of John's marriage in 1416 and Anna Vasilyevna's death in 1418. The couple probably sent the sakkos to Photius as a gift.[1]