Rhipidiums

The Greek work, which came to Romanian from Slavonic, initially signified an ordinary fan which was made of light materials: pieces of cloth, feathers, leaves, thin wooden strips. In the church, the rhipidiums were first used to put out the candles and votive lights after the religious service. In time, they became liturgical fans, made of metal strips. Linked to the fundamental ritual of the Eucharist, the rhipidiums are adorned mainly with figures of seraphim. The oldest Romanian rhipidiums come from the time of Stephen the Great and are made of golden silver, filigreed in Byzantine style. Two of them, commissioned by the voivode himself, were made in 1497 and are preserved at Putna.