Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker – the most venerated saint in Rus’ since ancient times – was born in Asia Minor in the second half of the 3rd century in a Greek colony Patara in the Roman province Lycia into the family of wealthy Christians. As a young man he was raised by his uncle, the Bishop of Patara, who ordained him a priest. The saint’s life was an example of Christian ministry to God and people. When St. Nicholas’ parents died, he bequeathed their property, which he gave away for charity needs. St. Nicholas was the bishop of the city of Myra of Lycia in Asia Minor (now Demre in Turkey); his self-sacrificing life and miracles brought him glory even in his lifetime. The saint took part in the First Ecumenical Council in 325 AD where he denounced Arius’ heresy who denied the divinity of Christ. According to legend, for slapping the heretic Arius St. Nicholas was defrocked, but the Savior Himself and the Theotokos brought St. Nicholas the Gospel and an omophorion – the signs of priesthood. This event is called the Nicene Creed and is shown in almost all depictions of the saint. Saint Nicholas died in ca. 345 AD and was buried in the city of Myra. In 1087 the city of Myra was seized by the Turks, and the saint’s relics were removed to the city of Bari in Italy.

The local veneration of the saint began soon after his death. In Constantinople, his cult had developed by the 6th – 7th centuries AD. In Rus, the veneration of St. Nicholas started after the adoption of Christianity. The accounts of the saint’s life can be found in the works by Andrew of Crete, the Patriarch Methodius of Constantinople, Symeon the Metaphrast and others. In hagiographic literature some of the episodes from the saint’s life were confused with those of St. Nicholas the Bishop of Pinara who lived in the 6th century. It happened in Byzantine and impacted the saint’s iconography. In Medieval Rus three versions of St. Nicholas’ life were known. In the 10th century Symeon the Metaphrast compiled The Life of St. Nicholas briefly describing the saint’s life and some of his miracles. This account of the saint’s life was widespread in Rus in the 15th century. Another story of his life, entitled A Different Life relates about St. Nicholas of Pinara and his posthumous miracles, which are more in number than in Symeon Metaphrast. The Life was translated into the Slavonic language in the 11th century. The third account, so-called “Neknizhnoe Zhitie” (life story beyond books) tells about the saint’s preaching of the Christian faith in various countries, the miracles on the way, his meeting with the midday Satan and his death. This account is known in Russian since the 14th century. Apart from the three basic versions of the saint’s Life, there are also several Panegyrics and numerous diachronous accounts of miracles, some of which complement the saint’s hagiography.

In Byzantine, hagiography icons of St. Nicholas have been known since the 12th century. The earliest examples of such icons in medieval Rus first appeared as early as the 14th century. Numerous depictions of St. Nicholas on Byzantine and medieval Russian icons and frescoes captured his pronounced facial features, the events of his life, and his lifetime and posthumous miracles. The earliest and most widespread type of St. Nicholas icons in the centerpieces of his hagiographic icons are his half-length images.

St. Nicholas is commemorated on December 7 (December 19, the old style), July 29 (August 11, the old style, the saint’s birthdate) and on May 9 (May 22, the old style, the translation of the saint’s relics).

Zhanna G. Belik,

Ph.D. in Art history, senior research fellow at the Andrei Rublyov Museum, custodian of the tempera painting collection.

Olga E. Savchenko,

research fellow at the Andrei Rublyov Museum.

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