ΒΧΜ

The slab comes from the Monastery of Hagios Ioannes o Prodromos (St John the Baptist) in the Castle of Zakynthos. The saint, declared patron saint of the island in 1608,is depicted frontal and winged, in full length between two low rocks. He blesses with his right hand while holding a scroll in his left. The scroll is inscribed: ΜΕΤΑΝΟΙΕΤΕ ΗΓΓΙΚΕ ΓΑΡ Η ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙA ΤΩΝ ΟΥΡΑΝΩΝ (""Repent [ye] for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand""). The three escutcheons in the lower part of the slab, which have not preserved their distinctive features, would have borne the patrons' coat of arms. The work is dated in the early 17th c. and, so, it belongs to the Venetian period of Zakynthos (1484-1797).