St. Nicholas
Type:
Icon
Period:
The middle of the
19 century
Dimiter T. Molerov, born in 1780 in Bansko, son of Toma Vishanov the Moler. One of the best-known painters, a representative of the Bansko school of art, a disciple of his father, influenced by the art of Athos. Author of the murals of the naos in the St Archangels' paraclete in the Rila monastery, the murals in the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin in the Pchelino dependance. In 1840 and 1841 together with his son Simeon Molerov he paints the murals and the sponsors' portraits in St. Nicholas' and St. John of Rila's paracletes in the principal church in the Rila monastery. Among D. Molerov's major achievements in iconography are the following icons: St. Nicholas (1816) from St. Archangel Michael's church in the village of Leshko, Christ All-triumphant with Angels and Cherubim (1833), The Nativity and a Crucifixion from St Elijah the Prophet's church in the village of Usenovo. He has also worked in Belgrade on an invitation by Prince Milosh Obrenovich of Serbia. He died in 1870 in Bansko.
Dimmensions (cm):
46
/ 35
/ 2.5
Location
Country: Bulgaria
Province: Blagoevgrad
Village: Ognyanovo
Church: The Assumption of the Virgin
Source
Country: Bulgaria
Province: Blagoevgrad
Village: Ognyanovo
Church: The Assumption of the Virgin
Description
A traditional waist-length portrayal of Saint Nicholas in archieratical vestments, without a miter on the head. In his left hand he is holding a closed book, and with his right hand he is blessing.
Iconographical technique: Combined
The gilding on the saint's aureole and on the vestments is with gold-leaf, and the frame, enclosing the icon, is silver-plated. The varnish cover is applied thinly and is destructured and has grown dark on the icon's entire surface.
Base material: Wood
The icon's base is a one-piece softwood panel, machine-made, with two inserted beams on the back. The ground coat is of plaster, laid in a thin layer.
State, restoration traces and comments
There are no traces of a previous restorative intervention. The ground coat is badly damaged in the lower part of the pictorial field, and to a lesser degree along the frame in its upper left corner. The painting layer is missing in the places where the ground coat is damaged.
