Figure 25 . Detail of icon of the Apostles Peter and Paul with scenes from their lives . Middle of the 16th century . Novgorod Museum ( from the Church of Peter and Paul in Kozhevniki in Novgorod ).
Novgorodian tastes can also be seen in the icon ’ s coloristic treatment . It is based on a combination of three main elements : red , green and gold , which dominated Novgorodian painting from the 13 th to the 15 th century . These are supplemented by white ( the thrice depicted omophorion , the robes of the youth possessed , and the highlights on the terraces of the hills ), and a few mixed shades : for example , Nicholas ’ yellowish-green phelonion , Mary ’ s purple-lilac robes and the grey rocky mounds . The use of gold is excellent and diverse : it is on the background , Nicholas ' halo with the diamondshaped ornament characteristic of Novgorod , and the exquisitely fine lines of gold hatching “ assist ” on Christ ’ s robes , the Gospel binding ( all three cases ) and the angels ’ wings .
Reliable evidence of the icon ’ s Novgorodian provenance is provided by the inscriptions . The one by the scene of the Healing of the Youth Possessed reads that the angel drove the « биса от чоловика », instead of the « бѣса от человѣка ». The use of “ и ” instead of “ ѣ ” in the words “ бес ” and “ человек ” is a characteristic sign of Novgorodian pronunciation in the mediaeval period . Similar pronunciation is also found in the Russian North in the 16 th century , 41 but taking into account the icon ’ s Novgorodian artistic features , the dialectical indications suggest that it was produced in Novgorod .
A relatively large number of Novgorodian icons have come down to us from the 16 th century , but they have not yet been properly studied or classified and very few have a precise or even an approximate date . Hence the difficulty in determining the circle of works to which the icon of Saint Nicholas belongs and the time when it was executed .
There is also a certain similarity with icons from the iconostasis of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Kozhevniki ( Novgorod Museum ), which were executed either in the second quarter of the 16 th century or , according to a different opinion , after the fire of 1558 . If we take for means of comparison the icon of the “ Apostles Peter and Paul with Scenes from their Lives ” ( Novgorod Museum ) ( Figure 25 ), it is painted with more refinement , elegance and care , with tracing of the details and small forms . 42 One cannot fail to see , however , the similarity between Saint Nicholas in our icon and the dignified and wise images of the Apostles Peter and Paul .
Our icon cannot be classified as a product of Novgorod ’ s main workshop , which was in the archbishop ’ s court . Many such 16 th -century Novgorodian paintings have survived , including the large , multipartite iconostases from the Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul in Kozhevniki and the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin in the Saint Anthony monastery ( displayed in the Novgorod Museum ). The colors used in these icons are bright and pure , always with an intense , rich tone . In the workshop where our icon was produced , however , the choice of pigments was more limited . The colors have a different tonality . The red is not vermilion , but a rather warm , pinkish tone . There are two
41 Anatoly Turilov ( private communication ).
42 E . V . Ignashina , Yu . B Komarova , Русская икона XI-XIX веков в собрании Новгородского музея . Путеводитель по экспозиции , ( Moscow , 2004 ), p . 85 .
18 Journal of Icon Studies