Saint Nicholas of Myra, 20th century

Egg tempera on panel

Height x width: 22 x 17 cm

The saint is depicted in a half-length, frontal, and hieratic pose, attired in the magnificent liturgical vestments associated with his episcopal office. Upon his head rests a sumptuous, imperial-style mitre, richly adorned with gems and small plaques painted with sacred images. With his right hand raised, he performs the traditional gesture of blessing in the Eastern manner, while a large pectoral medallion (panagia) and a broad, white omophorion—embellished with a monumental golden cross—stand out upon his chest. In his left hand, he holds an open Book of the Gospels, presented toward the viewer. Flanking the saint’s head is the canonical theophany of the "Miracle of Nicaea": within two radiant almond-shaped halos (mandorlas) resting upon clouds, the figure of Jesus Christ appears on the left, bestowing a blessing and holding the Gospel, while the Mother of God appears on the right, offering the omophorion—a divine sanction and legitimation of Nicholas’s episcopal dignity. The faces and flesh tones are rendered with an extraordinarily soft, nuanced brushwork—clearly academic in origin—which imbues the saint’s gaze with profound psychological expressiveness and a noble, poignant quality. The sacred scene is set against a lavish, entirely gilded background, finely engraved with a burin and punch to create a dense pattern of arabesques, geometric scrolls, and vegetal tendrils, mimicking the texture of precious brocade fabric. The composition is framed at the top by a lobed arch, surmounted by polychrome floral motifs against a blue ground, and flanked on either side by elaborate vertical borders decorated with concentric geometric enamel designs in shades of blue, green, and white.