Diskos

The diskos is made of silver- and gold-toned metal, in the form of a rounded plate with a wide rim on a shaped stand with a round base. On the well of the plate is a many-figured composition. At the center is a depiction of the Infant, with a cruciform halo, lying in the manger, wrapped in a loincloth-like covering; his right hand is bent at the elbow and rests on his chest, his left hand extended to the side. Above the figure of Christ is the Church Slavonic inscription: "Jesus Christ." To the left and right of the manger, amid clouds, are dynamic figures of angels, dressed in flowing robes, with raised wings; one hand pressed to their chest, the other raised upward with an open palm, and a round halo around each head. Between the angels, below the manger, are two cherubim with round halos. Above the manger, amid clouds, is a depiction of God the Father with luxuriant hair, a mustache, and a long beard, holding a scepter and the celestial orb in his left hand and blessing with his right. From God the Father descends the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. The whole composition is set within a circle decorated with hatching. Around the rim of the plate is the Church Slavonic inscription "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world" (the words separated by three stylized branches with leaves). The plate is attached to a foot with a broad base that gradually narrows upward. On the inner side of the diskos's foot is the inscription: "Slavhorod."

The diskos belonged to the pre-war collection of the Sloboda Ukraine Museum named after H. S. Skovoroda. During the Second World War it was evacuated and returned to Kharkiv in November 1944.

Note: the diskos is a liturgical vessel on which the portions of the prosphora are arranged for Holy Communion (the sacrament of the Eucharist). It is a round metal plate with a wide flat rim (it may have a low foot). During the Liturgy, the diskos is covered with the star (asterisk) and a veil.

The diskos represents the vessel from which Jesus Christ, at the Last Supper, took bread, broke it, and distributed it to his disciples with the words: "Take, eat; this is My body." The diskos is a symbol of the manger of Bethlehem, in which Jesus was laid after his birth. It is also a symbol of the Holy Sepulchre, since the Body of Christ rests upon the diskos.