on the art market , when it appeared at an auction in the USA , consigned by the heirs of the woman who had bought it . 6 It transpired that the icon had been purchased in Moscow in the 1930s by the American diplomat Norris Shipman and his wife Theophane ( Fanny ) Shipman , who was French by birth , the niece of the celebrated sculptor Antoine Bourdelle and well-known in political and cultural circles in France and the USA . In Moscow she had visited antique shops with two friends , one of whom was Francis Russell , the wife of the Italian ambassador Augusto Rosso , and the other Marjorie Merriweather Post , then married to the American diplomat Joe Davies , and founder of the delightful Hillwood Museum in Washington , DC . The events described constitute one of the most vivid episodes in the entertaining history of the collecting of Orthodox art , and Russian icons in particular , in the West . 7
Now in London , the icon is known only to a small number of specialists . It is clearly a work of the 16 th century produced in Novgorod . This is immediately obvious from the features of the style : the characteristic angularity and expressiveness of the contours , the large forms , the color contrasts , and the special shades of red and green . At the same time the icon is remarkable for its unusual subject and iconography , and the unique composition which emphasizes the majesty of the saintly image ( Figure 2 ). In spite of the intense study of the veneration of Saint Nicholas of Myra in the Orthodox world which has been carried out in recent years , 8 the numerous publications of newly discovered and little known works depicting the saint that have appeared , and the commentaries on long celebrated ones , there still exist unexplored areas in this sphere .
General information about the icon . State of preservation of the painting .
Figure 3 . Back of the icon .
The work is relatively small — 54 x 42 cm . Most likely it was not on an iconostasis , but was fixed to a separate base for veneration . The panel is made of comparatively soft and light limewood and consists of two boards fastened together with two wooden traverses ( shponki ), new ones in old grooves ( Figure 3 ). On the front is a relatively shallow , hollowed out central section ( kovcheg ) for the representation , surrounded by
6 Ken Farmer Auctions , Radford , Virginia , 2-3 / 05 / 2009 , lot 290 , described laconically as : “ Russian Icon ”.
7 See : E . S Smirnova ,.“ Об истории собирания русских икон на Западе ” [“ On the history of Russian icon collecting in the West ”], n . d .
8 M . S . Krutova , Святитель Николай Чудотворец в древнерусской письменности . ( Мoscow 1997 ); N . V Pak ,. ( ed ). “ Образ св . Николая Чудотворца в культуре Древней Руси ”, Материалы научной конференции 22 мая 2000 года ( St . Petersburg : Российская академия наук . Институт русской литературы ( Пушкинский дом ),
2001 ); Catalogue of Vologda Exhibition , April-May 2004 , Образ святителя Николая Чудотворца в живописи , рукописной и старопечатной книге , графике , мелкой пластике , деревянной скульптуре и декоративноприкладном искусстве XIII-XXI веков из собраний музеев и частных коллекций Северо-Западного региона
России , ( Мoscow , 2004 ); A . V . Bugayevsky , ( ed ). Правило веры и образ кротости … Образ святителя Николая , архиепископа Мирликийского , в византийской и славянской агиографии , гимнографии и иконографии ( Мoscow : Православный Свято-Тихоновский богословский институт , 2004 ); G . S . Klokova , M . S . Krutova , ( eds ) Святитель Николай Мирликийский в памятниках письменности и иконографии ( Мoscow : Православный Свято-Тихоновский гуманитарный университет , 2006 ); I . D . Soloviova , ( ed ). Святой Николай Мирликийский в произведениях XII-XIX столетий из собрания Русского музея , ( St . Petersburg , 2006 ); M . Bacci , ( ed ). San Nicola . Splendori d ’ arte d ’ Oriente e d ’ Occidente ,( Milan , 2006 ); A . V ., Bugayevsky , A . A . Rybakov . ( eds ). Почитание святителя Николая Чудотворца и его отражение в фольклоре , письменности и искусстве , ( Мoscow : Skanrus , 2007 ); A . V . Bugayevsky , ( ed .). Добрый кормчий . Почитание святителя Николая в христианском мире . Moscow : Skinia , 2011 ).
Journal of Icon Studies 3