The Image of St Nicholas the Miracle-maker in the Murals of St Sofia Cathedral in Kiev. V.D. Sarabyanov (Moscow)
Widespread worship of St Nicholas obtained a special status in all parts of Russia and dates back to the earliest stage of Russian Christianity when the basics of Russian Orthodox culture were laid down. Created around 1040, the murals of St Sofia Cathedral, where St Nicholas appears at least three times, are a testimony to that. The first image of St Nicholas is included in the saints tier of the central apsis' mosaics, «heading» the left-hand half of the tier that also includes St George and two other saints belonging to the initial group of particularly venerated saints: the Roman Pope Clement who was hallowed as high priest in Russia because his relics were buried in the Church of the Dime in Vladimir, and Epiphany, the bishop of Cyprus who was hallowed on account of the coincidence of his memorial day with the day when the Church of the Dime was consecrated (12 May).
The main hall of St Sofia cathedral is painted over with frescoes, predominantly images of saints of which there were initially 800 figures. The saints are depicted in a number of mini-plots demonstrating the role of Christianity in different contexts. The second image of St Nicholas of Myra illustrates one of the mini-plots and is located in the south-western section under the choir gallery. This space is allotted to images of varying degrees of saintliness, such as saints and martyrs, priests and healers, apostles and holy women, deacons and presbyters. Some of the figures in this space obviously carry patronal-symbolic message being heavenly protectors of various members of the princely family. St Nicholas' figure in the one of the two vaults, connecting this space with the one under the dome cross, spells out as it were the interpretation of the whole plot. The presence of patronal parallels in the selection of saints for this space introduces the viewer once again to the theme of newly baptized Russia joining the community of Christian nations while the image of St Nicholas of Myra, the same as in the alter mosaics, dominates in this sub-plot. The third representation St Nicholas the Miraclemaker features in one more sub-plot occupying one of the niches of the inner southern gallery completely devoted to the holy bishops. St Nicholas' image obviously stands out among the saints represented here: his halo has a double rim decorated with a string of pearls while over the halo one can make out traces of the canopy shaped as an arch with a lancet top once adjacent to the wall. The entire surface of the picture is dotted with little metal nails from the mounting over the painted figure, which decorated and at the same time distinguished St Nicholas. The group of bishops surrounding the archpriest of Myra glorifies the universally worshiped saint in the name of the whole Christian Church represented here by the holy hierarchs. Next to St Nicholas we can see the great holy men such as St Gregory the Theologian, St Gregory the Miracle-maker, St Gregory of Nyssa, St John the Merciful, and Ignatius Theophorus. Here we also see Phocas of Sinop and Capiton of Khersones, two holy men of Pontius whose worship in Russia was highly relevant in connection with the special role of Khersones in the baptism of Russia.
In all the three instances the image of the archpriest of Myra is inseparably connected with the integration of newly-baptized Russia into the community of Christian nations. St Nicholas appears in them as the main universal prayer for all Russia and as its heavenly protector. Quite possibly it is this aspect of worship for the famed archpriest that turned out to be the main one for Russian Christianity at its initial stages, that is, the first half of the 11th century.