Pair of liturgical fans (Hexapteryga)
Gilded silver
Diameter 0.38m
19th century

Each fan consists of a double-sided circular disc framed by bifurcate leaves of differing height in radiate arrangement. In the lower part is an integral conical tenon for supporting the fan on a wooden pole when it is processed in litanies. The organization and arrangement of the decoration, in high relief, is the same on both fans. On the front of the first is a medallion with the image of St George on horse back and slaying the dragon, and of the second the scene of the Dormition of the Virgin.Eight trapezoidal panels in radiate arrangement surround the central subject. In the two central panels above and below are two scenes from the Christological cycle, the Annunciation and the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, respectively. In the four diagonally-opposite panels, depicted in discs formed  from spiralling shoots, are the four Evangelists with their winged symbols, while in the two horizontal panels stand two full-bodied Angels holding a raised sword.

Likewise on the back, represented in the central medallion of both fans is the Deesis with Christ in the type of Great High Priest seated on an elaborate throne and attired in prelatic vestments and cross-topped mitre. The panels too are repeated, with the Evangelists and the Angels,  with the difference that here they hold a globe and cruciferous staff, typical insignia of power. To the contrary, the two central panels on the vertical axis are decorated with the Preparation of the Throne in the upper one and Constantine and Helen with the Holy Cross in the lower.

The close stylistic affinity between the pair of fans and the processional cross, such as the summary rendering of the squat figures, the decorative details and the rough design, enable us to attribute them to the same nineteenth-century workshop.

Αndromachi Κatselakι