St. Nicholas

St Nicholas of Mozhaysk Nicholas the Wondermaker, presented on the icon, was one of the most venerated saints in Ruthenia. He was born into a Christian family around 280 in Patara, in the Roman province of Licia in Asia Minor. He was the bishop of Myra. He donated the property inherited after the death of his parents to the needy, hence he became known as a benefactor. Nicholas the Wondermaker died around 340–345 and was buried in Myra. The miracles he performed during his lifetime and after his death contributed to the rapid development of his cult, starting from the 4th to the 5th century. in the 6th century emperor Justinian founded a basilica over the saint’s tomb in Myra and another one in Constantinople. After Asia Minor was conquered by the Seljuk tribes, the relics of St Nicholas were stolen and moved from Myra to Bari, in Italy, in 1078. Since then, to commemorate the transfer of the relics, Christians in the East, in addition to December 6, praise St Nicholas also on May 9 (respectively December 19 and May 22 according to the Julian calendar), calling these feast the ‘cold’ and ‘warm’ St Nicholas Day. At the end of the 12th century, the Basilica of St Nicholas was consecrated in Bari. It is still visited by pilgrims from all over the world. In Ruthenia, since the adoption of Christianity, Nicholas the Wondermaker has enjoyed uninterrupted veneration, as evidenced by the significant number of images depicting him, see S.12683MŁ, S.12796MŁ, S.12805MŁ, S.12820MŁ, S.12836MŁ, S.12866MŁ, S.12868MŁ. Apart from the pictorial patterns transferred from Byzantium, domestic variants of representations connected with local events and miracles, which took place through the intercession of St Nicholas, developed in the territory of Ruthenia. One of these is the icon in brass embossed borders, depicting St Nicholas of Mozhaysk, standing with a menacingly raised sword in his right hand and a defensive castle or orthodox church in his left, as described under S.12836MŁ. Teresa Bagińska-Żurawska https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9243-3967