Icon - Nicholas the Wonderworker - Copper

This painting is a traditional religious icon depicting Saint Nicholas of Myra (known in Italy also as Saint Nicholas of Bari).

• The metal support: The greenish oxidation layer on the bluish background reveals that the painting was executed directly on a copper plate. This technique was used for icons intended to endure over time, often inserted in iconostases or sacred shrines.
The piece has a notable historical and devotional charm, and the conservation state of the face and hands is fortunately very good.

Iconographic Main Features:

• The gesture of the hand: The right hand is raised in the classic Christian-orthodox blessing gesture, with the fingers positioned to form the Greek letters that symbolize the name of Jesus Christ.
• The Gospel: With the left hand, partially covered by liturgical vestments as a sign of deep respect, he holds a closed Gospel book, decorated at the center by an oval plate or medallion with a sacred figure.
On the edge or in the corners there are small inscriptions in Cyrillic.
• The clothing: He wears the omophorion (the white decorated stole), the distinctive element of the liturgical vestment of bishops of Byzantine and Orthodox rite.
• The facial features: The face presents the classic iconography of the saint: high and receding forehead, white and short beard, and a solemn and austere expression, typical of the painting tradition of East-European or Russian icons of the 19th century.