The lip band features fifteen enamel plaques, however this configuration is not original. Christ and John the Baptist would have been placed together, opposite the Virgin Mary who is flanked by angels. The spaces between them would have been filled by the enamels of Saints Peter and Paul, the Four Evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), and the Church Fathers (Gregory of Nazianzos, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, and Nicholas). The cup was most likely a gift from the emperor Romanos to an unidentified church, although there is some doubt amongst scholars as to which Romanos the inscription refers: Romanos I Lekapenos (r. 920-44) or Romanos II (r. 959-63). The closeness of these dates makes it difficult to argue stylistic and technical differences for one emperor or the other. Like many precious items from Constantinople, this chalice ended up at San Marco in Venice.