Bidspirit auction | [Moderne]. Icon ”Saint Nicholas of

[Moderne]. Icon ”Saint Nicholas of Myra the Wonderworker” in a Kiot. Russia, second half of the 19th century. Icon: wood, ark (kovcheg), gesso, tempera. Kiot: glazed wooden case, Russia, early 21st century. Solid wood (birch), clear glass. Icon dimensions: 46.5 × 38 cm. Kiot dimensions: 56 × 47 × 9 cm. Condition of the icon: very good, approaching excellent; professional restoration (Grabar Centre), loss of original splines. Condition of the kiot: excellent, minimal signs of use. The image of the saint belongs to the widespread ”Winter Nicholas” type: the saint is depicted half-length, in episcopal vestments and a mitre, holding a closed Gospel Book in his left hand and blessing with his right — linking the icon to the December feast day of the saint. In the upper cloud segments are the figures of Christ and the Mother of God, recalling the Miracle at Nicaea and underscoring the wonderworking and intercessory nature of Saint Nicholas. The large format of the panel (nearly half a metre in height) lends the icon a dignified, ”domestic-lectern” character: the face is easily legible at a distance, while the soft painting in a muted green-grey and ochre-red palette, with gentle modelling of the face and neat gilt edging, reflects the late-academic manner and the influence of the Moderne style in pre-revolutionary icon painting. Moderne in Russian icon painting was a brief but notable phase in which the traditional canon was combined with a new feeling for colour and atmosphere; a large icon of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker of this kind is therefore especially sought after for a quality domestic iconostasis. The contemporary kiot in solid birch reliably protects the painted surface and allows the icon to be immediately placed in an interior or domestic iconostasis without additional framing costs.