St. Nicholas of Mozhaisk icon

Russian icons of St. Nicholas frequently represent the saint as Holy Hierarch Nicholas of Mozhaisk. According to legend, Mozhaisk came under attack by the Tatars in 1302. The attackers laid siege to the city and sought to starve its inhabitants out. The townspeople gathered in the cathedral to appeal to St Nicholas for help. The saint then materialized above the church holding a sword and a model of the church, causing the enemy to flee. Icons of St. Nicholas generally include representations of Christ and the Mother of God on either side of the saint’s head. In the St. Nicholas of Mozhaisk variant, the saint’s entire body is shown and he carries a sword in one hand and a city or church in the other. This particular icon also presents the six patron saints of the Russian Imperial family. On the left are Saints Anastasia, Alexandra and Olga. On the right are Saints Tatiana, Maria and Alexei. An inscription on the back of the icon provides the name of the iconographer and the date of its completion: “This icon was painted by the Old believer peasant Gregory Trephonov Pavlikov on the Estate of Posada Shezomach Chernigov for the presentation on the Angel Day of his imperial Majesty, the sovereign emperor Nicolai Alexandrovich, in the year of the birth of Christ 6 December 1906.”