The veneration of Nicholas of Myra as a saint began in the 4th century, that is, shortly after the earthly death of the bishop. At first, he was considered a local saint, but by the 7th century, people began celebrating his memory throughout the territory of Byzantium. The life of the saint was described by such authors as St. Andrew of Crete, St. Methodius, and Symeon the Metaphrast.
In particular, Symeon the Metaphrast (the 10th century) gives a description of the appearance of Nicholas the Wonderworker, based on the testimonies of the saint’s contemporaries. It represents Nicholas as “an elder with an angelic face, full of holiness and the grace of God. <…> A most luminous radiance emanated from him, and his face shone more than the one of Moses”, so that any suffering person “with one glance at him could find comfort.”
Legend has it that the earliest Byzantine icon of St. Nicholas was created on the basis of his lifetime portrait. However, the recognizable appearance of the saint — gray hair, a high forehead with a receding hairline, a full beard, and a thin nose — developed gradually; initially he was depicted as a severe man without special distinguishing features.
In Russian iconography, the face of the Wonderworker was usually painted in such a way that his eyes seemed close together. Traditionally, in iconographic depictions, Saint Nicholas appears in episcopal vestments — a sticharion and a phelonion with an omophorion decorated with crosses and with the Gospel. As a rule, in full-length images, the Gospel is open, in earlier half-length ones — closed.
The saint’s face and hands on the presented icon are well-preserved, but there are areas on the vestments and omophorion where the paint is flaking off, their outlines, folds, and crosses on them, as well as the contour of the closed Gospel in his left hand are barely visible.
Images of Jesus Christ and the Most Holy Theotokos are placed in round medallions on both sides of the saint. They hand the holy saint the symbols of episcopal dignity — the Gospel and the omophorion.
The icon is protected with a metal revetment covered with bronze powder. The fields of the revetment, as well as the crown over the head of the saint, are decorated with simple ornaments with floral and geometric motifs. The inscription in the upper part is unclear, it reads:
