Here is a closer pic from a different angle. There are two statues flanking the centerpiece. Neither are facing the centerpiece but are facing due-South (one east bound one west bound). The centerpiece is clearly north.
I realize that in Byzantine art there is a little problem with depth perception, but that statue of a man praying is at least 5 feet in front of the other statues and is facing East to their North. He isn't praying to statues. He is praying.
But why have statues at all? Aren't these idols?
If statues in a Catholic or Orthodox church are idols, then they are also idols in a Protestant church -- YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS.
I said "it seems," always cognisent of "Byzantine depth perception."