Imaginile sfântului ierarh Nicolae din colecţii muzeale. Interferenţe hagiografice
Images of St. Nicholas from museum collections: Hagiographic aspects

Summary/Abstract: The author of the article presents to the readers’ attention several icons of St. Nicholas the Wonder- worker from the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova. The image of St. Nicholas is one of the most revered of all the saints of the Christian world; over the course of time, it has absorbed various types of depiction named after the holy monasteries, places, or circumstances in which they were revealed. The museum collection contains mainly late icons of St. Nicholas, but there are also early and rare images that are distinguished by their iconographic message. Most of the icons date back to the 18th–20th centuries and display artistic features typical of Russian icon-painting schools. In addition to icons painted in tempera or oil on wood, the collection also contains icons lithographed on wood or metal, the latter of which are considered museum rarities. Some icons are partially painted and depict only the face and hands, which are visible through the openings of the riza. The studied iconographic sources allow us to identify in the icons from the museum collection expressive means and stylistic features characteristic of famous examples, such as the Ugresha miraculous icon of St. Nicholas, the prototype of which dates back to the 14th century, the icon from the Novgorod Monastery of the Holy Spirit, dating back to the 13th century, and the “Krupitsky” icon. Among the icons in the collection, the image of St. Nicholas the Averter of Evil stands out – an iconographic version of the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, common among the Old Believers in the 18th century. On some icons, Saint Nicholas is depicted in full growth in a pose reminiscent of the Oranta; they are known under the names “Nikola of Zaraysk” and “Nikola of Mozhaysk” and were revealed in the 13th and 14th centuries, respectively. All icons with the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker from the collections of the National Museum of History of Moldova studied by the author of the article are introduced into scientific use for the first time.

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