Jeweled Icons of St Nicholas in Medieval Russia. L.A. Sterligova (Moscow)

The tradition of creating holy images from precious materials is an important part of the history of icon worship. The beauty of gold, precious stones and pearls contributed to the perception of icons as carriers of lofty spirituality. At the same time these materials expressed the worshippers' profound reverence towards God and the saints. St Nicholas jeweled icons provide one of the most vivid examples of this attitude. This article examines the typology of such icons as well as focusing on the most perfect specimens.

St Nicholas the Miracle-maker was particularly revered among the Russian elite under the influence of the tradition existing at the Byzantine court in Constantinople at the time of the Christianization of Russia. St Nicholas' richly decorated holy images of the 10^th–11^th centuries usually follow the style known as «imagines clipeatae», that is, they have the form of clypeus or a shield: a symbol of glory, triumph, as well as protection befitting the worship of the victorious saint. His spiritual authority among the Byzantine high society is evident from the triptychs made of carved ivory. On some of them the image of St Nicholas stands out in high relief and the juxtaposition of the saint with the Supreme Apostle Peter, two guardians of deceased souls, became widespread in Russia as well.

St Nicholas' image made in the technique of cloisonne by an unknown Russian master in the early 13^th century was part of a folding icon discovered in Vladimir and making a pair with St Peter's icon. Of particular interest is a large and deep Byzantine silver chalice with St Nicholas' image at the bottom found in Chernigov in 1985. Its style suggests that it dates back to the 11^th – early 12^th century and probably served as an object or religious worship, funeral rites or the Proskomide.

The holy image of St Nicholas as protector and patron could be the only one or the main image on pectoral reliquaries and crosses. In the early 14^th century, depictions of St Nicholas on the front side of reliquary crosses with the Archistrategus Michael and the saints Boris and Gleb on the reverse side provided spiritual guidance for the Christian Orthodox tsars while the New Gospel relics contained within the cross served as their unvanquished shield.

The Byzantine icons of St Nicholas carved on precious and semi-precious stones and imitating cameos were highly valued in Russia. Golden frames made in Russia in the 14^th and early 15^th century is a testimony that such cameos were brought to Russia already during the Byzantine period. The most interesting among them is the cameo carved on sardonyx and fixed in the middle of a gold pectoral cross in the form of a quatrefoil. Not only the material but also the artistic mastery suggest that the cross used to belong to a high-placed official in the Byzantine Empire. All scholars dated the cross to 14^th century and the cameo to the 11^th. However, its artistic style also suggests the 13^th–14^th century.

The 13^th century cameo with St Nicholas' image in the center of the golden pectoral cross dating back to the 17^th century stands out among similar specimens with its well-preserved quality. Its style fully corresponds to its Venice attribution. Such cameos could well serve as eulogies in Bari. The fame of Byzantine cameos bearing the image of St Nicholas the Miracle-maker inspired their imitations in various jewelry techniques not only in Venice but also in Russia of the 14^th and 15^th centuries.

In Russia highly venerated were folded icons, pectoral and alter crosses with St Nicholas images brought from Bari. Of particular interest is the 1561 folded icon commissioned by Semyon Yermilin Trusov, a son of Yeremei Trusov Vorobin, who was a member of the Grand Duke Vassily Ill's embassy to the Roman Pope Clement and who brought back home the Tale of Madonna di Loreto that he had written down.

Russian church inventories embrace the entire variety of ecclesiastical objects bearing St Nicholas image. Alter crosses had St Nicholas image in the lower intersection, that is, the spot kissed by the worshipper at the end of the liturgy; or it might be in the center of the reverse side of the cross opposite Christ's image. St Nicholas appeared on these crosses as a champion of true faith, the church and all the Christians. Round-shaped silver images of St Nicholas were fastened on shrouds covering boyars' graves in their family burial-vaults, probably kissed by the people appealing to the saint during memorial services. The great Miraclemaker was also depicted on church torches and dishes.

The earliest tempera icons of St Nicholas decorated with precious stones date back to the 16^th century, but already the most ancient Russian icons of St Nicholas retained the traces of precious stone decorations where they were fixed on boards or on gesso foundations as well as depictions of such decorations in painted icons. In the 16^th–17^th centuries, according to Russian tradition, icon painters often painted a spiral metal pendant on St Nicholas' breast. Such gold and silver pendants (which were decorations and at the same time signs of distinction) belonged to wealthy worshippers or were made to their order for such icons as donations to the church. The hallowed icons of St Nicholas were second in the richness of their decorations only to the icons of the Mother of God while the famous 16^th-century carved image of St Nicholas in Mozhaisk surpassed all the hallowed Russian icons in the number of precious stones in its ornamentation. The icon of St Nicholas from the Monastery of Intercession in Suzdal (brought there in 1575 by Yevdokia Saburova, daughterin-law of Ivan the Terrible, when she arrived there to take the veil, before which it was an in-house icon of the royal family) is a good example of the complexity, beauty and spiritual significance of precious stone decorations of St Nicholas' icons. This icon was painted and encased in gold supposedly in connection with the arrival in Moscow from Vyatka in 1555 of the miracle-making icon of St Nicholas from the River Velikaya.

Precious valuables also include images of St Nicholas embroidered with gold and silver threads and silk on various church shrouds and covers. In the 16^th century, in Russian cathedrals such embroidered covers with St Nicholas images were brought out during archpriests' services.

To conclude, precious church utensils and personal worship items used in the homes of the Russian elite in medieval times supplement our notions of the exceptional importance of St Nicholas' images for Russian believers.