Bulgarian Hand Painted Icon of Saint Nicholas

Size: 15 x 20 cm

Created by: K.Georgieva, Qualified icon painter

We offer you a hand painted icon of Saint Nicholas. The icon is made in Bulgaria, according to the original medieval Bulgarian orthodox painting traditions (16th c.). Approximately at that time Bulgarian icon painting started to turn to reality and the role of didactic rules began to diminish.
This is especially evident from the bright colors employed for the painting of this icon. The harsh, severe tones typical of the Middle Ages have given way to more lively colors full of light and inspiration.

For the make of the icon was used dark stained wood. The icon is tempera painted, and Saint Nicholas is painted in the traditional way: in knee-length, full face, and in archbishop's vestments. He is blessing with one hand and holding a decorated Gospel in the other. The saint wears a red mantle, the red color symbolizing divinity and martyrdom.

Gilding is often used for the background of icons as well as in painting draperies, details of costumes and ornaments. But very often gilt is given symbolic meaning, too, relating gold to power of spirit.

Additional information about Saint Nicholas, as found on the Internet : Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, children, and students in Greece, Russia, Serbia and Bulgaria. As the patron saint of sailors, Nicholas is claimed to have been a sailor or fisherman himself. More likely, however, is that his family was managing a fishing fleet, for they were really well-off. When his parents died, Nicholas still received his inheritance but is said to have given it away to charity.
Among the Greeks and Italians he is a favourite of sailors, fishermen, ships and sailing. As such, over time, he became the patron saint of several cities maintaining harbours. In Greek folklore Nicholas was often referred to as "The Lord of the Sea". He is also the patron saint of all of Greece. The holy person of St. Nicholas is a popular subject portrayed on countless Eastern Orthodox icons, particularly Russian ones.

General information In 865 the Bulgarians were THE FIRST Slavonic people to adopt Christianity from Byzantium as its official religion.
Since then the icon, venerated as an especially sacred object of cult and rite, has developed as a fundamental part of the Bulgarian art from the ninth century until present days. The Bulgarian icon painters had left their deep mark in the overall development of Christian Orthodox Art. Their trail can be seen in the monasteries of Mount Athos and the south-west Balkans, or in Wallachia, Moldavia and Russia, whose icon masters had followed the Bulgarian canonical pattern. The rich historical background of the Bulgarian icon and the fact that it is a result of the efforts of a small but gifted nation makes it an inseparable element of European cultural history.