St. Nicholas

The cult of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker has flourished in Rus since the adoption of Christianity. St. Nicholas, along with the Mother of God and John the Baptist, was considered one of the most effective intercessors in all the needs and misfortunes of life. His depictions were placed not only in temples and houses but were also carried on one's person, both on regular days and for special occasions, as well as when working or travelling, see S.12683MŁ, S.12820MŁ, S.12950MŁ. Small images cast in metal alloys (esp. bronze, copper, and brass), durable and convenient to use, were employed in private worship. Researchers speculate that among all cast icons, up to 20% were depictions of St. Nicholas, see S.12805MŁ, S.12836MŁ, S.12866MŁ, S.12868MŁ. Nicholas the Wonderworker was particularly revered by the Old Ritualists, who did not accept the liturgical reform of Moscow's Patriarch Nikon in the middle of the 17th c. The Old Ritualists used their own objects of worship exclusively. One of the centres producing such objects in the 18th-19th c. was the Guslitsa Region, located around 120 km away from Moscow. Guslitsa crafts, frequently decorated with colourful enamel, were very popular after the northern workshops on the Vyg river were shut down by the Tsar's government. They were often imitated by provincial workshops. The presented icon showing St. Nicholas in half-figure is one of the commonly used icons, frequently called 'tabletky' - 'small tablets'. In the image, Nicholas the Wonderworker is revered by two saints: Basil the Great and Sergius of Radonezh, described under S.12868MŁ. Teresa Bagińska-Żurawska https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9243-3967