and discovered the icon of Saint Nicolas , as well as some other images , miraculously unharmed in the flames ( Figures 22 , 23 ). 35
Figure 22 . A nemchin ( German ) in Narva ( Rugodiva ) throwing an icon of Saint Nicholas into the fire in order to brew beer . Fresco in the Church of Saint Nicholas in Yaroslavl , 1640 .
Figure 23 . Reception in Moscow of the holy icons saved in Narva ( Rugodiva ). The icon of Saint Nicholas is on the left among the representations of saints . Fresco in the Church of Saint Nicholas in Yaroslavl , 1640 .
Mention must also be made of a charter sent in 1561 by the Ecumenical Patriarch Joasaph to Metropolitan Macarius . The text , which denounces the “ sacrilegious Lutheran heresy ,” is quoted in full in the official Nikon Chronicle . The charter , which was regarded in Russia as indisputable spiritual guidance , denounced the Lutheran denial of the veneration of holy icons , recalls the veneration of the earliest images of Christ (“ the sacred sudarium , the image not made by hands acquired by King Abgar ”) and the Virgin Mary (“ painted by Luke , preacher of the Word ”), and the yearly feast day of the victory over the iconoclasts and the restoration of icon veneration in 843 ( the “ Triumph of Orthodoxy ”), celebrated each year on the first Sunday in Lent . 36
In this charter the Lutheran denial of the veneration of saints and their relics is rejected . 37 This motif in the polemics with the Protestants is related directly to the glorification of the most revered of saints , the Myra bishop and Wonder-worker Nicholas . The charter recalls that saints are prayerful intercessors before the Lord for devout Christians and that the Lord performs many miracles through their agency . With respect to our icon it is important that the charter also mentions angels who “ through the grace of God ... carry out holy wonders .” It is significant that in the composition of our icon we see the saintly miracle-worker , the Savior and the Virgin Mary who help him — through the agency of the angels , and the angels who “ perform sacred wonders ,” that is , take part in their performance . This is not to say that these religious polemics were reflected directly in Russian icon painting : the relationship between ideology and art was subtle , indirect .
The religious life of Western Europe , the teaching of Martin Luther and the ideas of the Counter Reformation would appear to be far removed from Muscovite Russia of the
35 Никоновская летопись под 7066 ( 1558 ) г .”, Полное собрание русских летописей , vol . XIII , ( Moscow , 2000 ), p . 295 . This story found artistic reflection in the frescoes of the church of Nadein ’ s Saint Nicholas in Yaroslavl , 1640 ( see : Е . А . Fedorycheva , Церковь Николы Надеина в Ярославле . ( Moscow , 2003 ), p . 50 . pl . 23 , fig . IX ( nos . 14- 16 ). See reproductions in E . S . Smirnova , “ Смотря на образ древних живописцев ...”. Тема почитания икон в искусстве Средневековой Руси . ( Moscow , 2007 ), pp . 212 , 213 .
36 The Nikon Chronicle under 7069 ( 1561 ) г ., Полное собрание русских летописей , vol . XIII , ( Moscow , 2000 ), pp . 337-338 .
37 Ibid ., p . 338 .
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