Platelets

The platelets are made in the well-known technique of Byzantine cellular enamel on a gold background. While they were in Hilandar, they were in secondary use and they made a part of the 16 th -century connection of the Four Gospels of the Bulgarian Emperor George Terter from the 14 th century. Style-wise, the enamel shows a balance between wholeness and detail. Vivid, bright colours create sound and harmonious proportions. Comparison with the works created in the capital indicates Constantinople as a possible place of their production. St. John the Baptist is presented as a prophet, while the archangels are dressed in aristocratic robes. The platelets do not provide information about the original iconographic and programmatic unit to which they belonged. Therefore, their original purpose remains unknown, that is - the object they adorned. In the second-instance use, on the cover of the Gospels, they signified the presence of saints and heavenly authorities.