Icon - Nicholas the Wonderworker - Wood

Russian Icon – Saint Nicholas of Myra (Svjatitel Nikolaj), Tempera on wood

Ancient Russian icon depicting Saint Nicholas of Myra (Nicholas the Wonderworker), one of the most venerated saints of the Orthodox Church. The Saint is shown in episcopal regalia (phelonion with omophorion), the right hand raised in blessing, in the left hand the opened Gospel book. Above the head a gilded nimbus.

In the upper corners are the classic attendant figures of Christ (left, with the Gospel book) and the Mother of God (right, with the omophorion), pointing to the legend of the heavenly investiture of the Saint – an ikonographic element typical for Nicholas depictions. Church Slavonic inscription “СВЯТИТЕЛЬ …” (Holy Bishop) in the upper field of the image.

Technique: Tempera and gold leaf on a wooden panel, with a sunken pictorial plane (Kowtscheg) and a red-brown finished edge.