St. Raphael (Fanal figure)

A figure of Christ Child is the most frequent sculpture inside a fanal.
The Museo de Artes de la Universidad de los Andes, Santiago de Chile, exhibits a group of 16 "fanales". A "fanal" is a structure that consists of a wooden base on which a bell glass or bell jar is mounted, used in Europe during the eighteenth century for scientific and decorative purposes. When transferred to Latin America it takes a totally different character: a “fanal” becomes a devotional object from the moment a religious Christian figure is placed in the inside.
However it is not unusual to find an image of a saint in a "fanal", but hardly that of an archangel. In this case, St. Raphael, one of the main archangels of the angelic hierarchy, has been dressed in sumptuous clothing. The pastoral staff transformed into a tree, along with insects and birds, worked in silver filigree and pearl ornaments. The outfit is complemented with a tall hat overly embellished. The tunic of bright colors let show his boots that altogether with the staff, confirming the fact that he is a pilgrim archangel.