Description in Icons, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2004, cat. no. 99:
Saint Nicholas of Zharaysk with Scenes from His Life
Middle of 17th century, Pokorye, Novgorod region
NMI 166

Wood: Poplar (Populus sp.), egg tempera
on canvas. Panel made of three
boards with two splines inlaid across
the panel; upper and lower borders
superimposed.

Inscriptions: On lower inner border
in Cyrillic letters: POSTA VIL SEY
SVYATYI OBRAZ VO IMYA NIKOLY
CHUDOTVORTSA, B TSERKVI
USPENIYA PRESVYATYYA BOGORODITSY
V KOPORI. POSADSKOI
CHELOVEK KOPORYANIN PETR
DMITRIEV SYN MAZICHIN NA
POKLONENIE VSEM KHRISTIANAM
(This holy image of Nicholas
the Miracle-Worker has been put up in
the Church of the Dormition of the
Mother of God in Koporye by Piotr
Dimitriev, citizen of Koporye, son
of Mazicha, for all Christians to wor -
ship).

PROVENANCE: According to tradition, from
the collection of Grand Duke Paul; Olof
Aschberg; Gift of O. Aschberg 1933
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Aschberg 1928; Kjellin 1933,
no 166; Kjellin 1956, pp 267, 274
CONSERVATION: Restored prior to entering
NM: background of central scene probably
repainted, scattered retouches. Wide cracks
through the wood in the joints and the
upper and lower parts of the panel; dam -
age, with ground and paint losses, along
the edges; darkened, uneven varnish; nails
from lost metal halos in central part.

The border scenes represent the fol -
low ing episodes, reading horizontally
from left to right : 1.The birth of the
Saint and the miracle in the bath,
2. The baptism of the Saint, 3.Healing
of a woman with a shrivelled hand
whilst on his way to school, 4.Being
brought to school, . Made a deacon,
6. Ordained into priesthood, 7.Consecrated
a bishop, 8.The appearance
of the Saint in a dream to the emperor
Constantine the Great, 9. Appearing
in a dream to the eparch Eulavius,
10. Appearing to the three generals in
prison, 11.Rescuing three generals
from execution, 12.RescuingDimitrii
from drowning, 13.The miracle of the
ship, 14.Returning Basil from the
Saracens to his parents, 15.Buying a
carpet from a man, 16.Returning the
carpet to the man’s wife (from the
miracle of the carpet), 17.The dormition,
18.The transfer of the remains
from Myra to Bari.1
The central figure is depicted
in accordance with the Nicholas of
Zharaysk type, i.e. shown full length
with one hand raised in benediction
and with the other holding a book.
This depiction is surrounded by
a frame with foliage-patterned corners.
Surrounding it are scenes from the life
of the saint, followed in turn by
a frame with no décor but containing
explanatory inscriptions and, below,
a documentary inscription (see above).
Outermost a broad frame richly decorated
with a stylised floral pattern. This
icon, as the inscription states, comes
from the Church of the Dor mition,
where it may have been included in the
bottom tier of the iconostasis, the local
tier, or may possibly have been sepa -
rate ly positioned in the church. The
fortress town of Koporye in Eastern
Ingria was Swedish territory between
1617 and 1703.

1 Sevcenko 1983.
[slut]