Icon - Nicholas the Wonderworker - Wood

Icon of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker
Russian school, nineteenth century
Origin: European private collection
Region: Russia
19th century
Material: Egg tempera and silver leaf on a wooden panel
Style: Russian Orthodox iconography
Orthodox icon representing Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, in a frontal half-length composition, with a circular halo and a blessing gesture by the episcopate in accordance with the Byzantine canon. The saint wears an omophorion decorated with crosses and holds the opened Gospel with an inscription in ecclesiastical Cyrillic. On either side of the halo are arranged the usual secondary figures of Christ and the Virgin, respectively presenting the Gospel and the omophorion, a traditional iconographic motif associated with Saint Nicholas and widely disseminated in Russian iconography.
The work is executed in egg tempera on panel, with traditional stucco preparation (levkas) and a background of silver leaf, originally burnished and later patinated through warm glazes. The natural oxidation of the silver now yields golden and ochre tones, a phenomenon characteristic of 19th-century Russian icons and clearly observable in the background and the nimbus. The modeling of the face, with severe and expressive features, is built up through successive layers of ochres and greens, with fine, confident strokes in the eyebrows, eyes, beard, and hair, following schemes inherited from medieval tradition, reinterpreted within the 19th-century Russian devotional production. The identifying inscriptions in Cyrillic, partially preserved, reinforce its liturgical and devotional character.
From a stylistic point of view, the icon corresponds to a 19th-century Russian production faithful to canonical models, designed for domestic or parish worship. The balanced composition, the hieratic treatment of the face, and the use of patinated silver leaf confirm a traditional execution, unrelated to modern or industrial reproductions.
The conservation state is coherent with its age: it shows widespread craquelure, occasional losses of polychromy and of the metallic coating, surface abrasions and wear in the most exposed areas, as well as natural oxidation of the varnish. The rear panel displays signs of use and aging, with no indications of invasive modern restorations. It preserves an authentic historic patina that reinforces its interpretation as an ancient icon.
An authentic 19th-century Russian icon, of proper iconographic quality and noteworthy visual presence, suitable for a specialized collection of Orthodox icons or for display in a historical-devotional context.
Shipping: It is only shipped to European countries.