17 Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker

Russian Icon, late 19th- early 20th century, Size: 14 1/8” x 12 3/8”

This Icon depicts the Holy Bishop St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. St. Nicholas was the Bishop of Myra in Lycia and was in attendance at the Council of Nicea in 325 where he famously opposed the heresiarch Arius. Legend tells that St Nicholas punched Arius out at the Council. Violence was of course expressly forbidden at the council by Emperor Constantine the Great, and tradition holds that after the council he was deposed and imprisoned. While he was in prison Christ and the Virgin Mary appeared, freeing Nicholas and restoring him as Bishop.
One of the most famous stories of St. Nicholas tells of how he helped a man who had fallen on hard times receive a dowry in order to marry off his daughters. St. Nicholas did not want to embarrass the proud man so he could not help him publicly. St. Nicholas visited the house in the middle of the night so as to not be seen and left a small purse of gold just inside the window for each of the daughters so they could be married. This is origin of St. Nicholas coming to fill the stockings or shoes of children at Christmas. Another tradition holds that a butcher in Myra killed 3 boys and put them in a pickling barell, but when St. Nicholas ordered the barrel opened and prayed over it, the boys came back to life.
This icon depicts St Nicholas dressed and wearing the pallium of an Eastern Bishop. With his right hand he gives a blessing. The fingers form the letters IC XC, the initial Greek letters in Jesus Christ. In his left hand he holds the Gospel. To the left and right of his head are Christ and the Virgin Mary reminding us of the story of them appearing to him when he was imprisoned and setting him free. Also there are six other saints depicted to the right and left of St. Nicholas.