Richard DuckettWorcester Telegram & Gazette
Just in time for Christmas, the iconic Saint Nicholas has a new home.
Or rather, The Icon Museum and Study Center in Clinton has just unveiled its latest acquisition, a 19th century icon titled "Saint Nicholas and Scenes from His Life." The icon, described an an "important" new piece in the museum's collection, was first shown at a museum event on Dec. 6.
"This is a real masterpiece," said Icon Museum and Study Center curator Justin Willson.
A fascinating history
The icon showcases the saint surrounded by 32 detailedscenes, delicately painted with crisp, colorful lines of egg tempera on a wooden panel. The scenes provide a visual narrative of the saint's life, from his birth to his miraculous deeds and posthumous veneration. "It's in beautiful condition," Willson said in an interview the day before the Dec. 6 unveiling.
Both the icon and its history are fascinating. Not a great deal is known about Saint Nicholas, who lived during the 3rd and 4th centuries in Lycia, a province in modern-day Turkey. But he has become a beloved figure in Christian tradition, renowned for kindness, generosity and miraculous powers such as calming the stormy seas. His reputed secret gift-giving evolved into him becoming the legendary figure of Santa Claus.
Some of the facts about the "Saint Nicholas and Scenes From His Life" are also unknown at present, but Willson said it is definitely by a class of artists from the Old Believers or Old Ritualists, of a group of Russian religious dissenters who refused to accept the liturgical reforms made by the Russian Orthodox Church in the17th century.
Willson said "Saint Nicholas and Scenes from His Life" was perhaps painted in the second quarter of the 19th century, likely by an Old Believers master artist and an assistant artist.
The icon is about three-and-half-feet tall and two-and-a-half- feet wide. "It's a sizeable piece. It's a large work," Willson said.
St. Nicholas is in the center, while 32 individual vision icons with a Cyrillic script tell a story from the saint's birth to his posthumous year including people praying to an icon of St. Nicholas. "Icons within icons," Willson said.
'Sacred art'
The Old Believers "viewed icons as a narrative form ... They loved this to teach stories. St. Nicholas is one of the most beloved saints." The "Saint Nicholas and Scenes from his Life" icon is known as a "vita" icon, meaning life, Willson said.
Vita icons go back to about the 11th century and Byzantine painters helped develop the form. The vita art form disappeared for a while but then came back "with force" in the 17th century. The Old Believers revived Byzantine iconography, shaping the reception of medieval artistic traditions.
In the painting of icons in Russia following the 17th century schism, icons surrounding the state church began to be painted in a more realistic manner similar to that used in Western European religious art. The Old Believers kept to the old stylized manner of painting saints and scenes.
In the "Saint Nicholas and Scenes from his Life" icon there several sea images in the stories, reflecting that Saint Nicholas, among his many patronages, is considered the patron saint of sailors..
The blues of the seas are among the colors, along with reds and yellows, that stand out on the icon. "It's a really powerful artistic statement as well," Willson said.
"This icon is as much about telling stories through playful contrasts of vibrant color and virtuoso detail as about the narrative of the saint's life. It invites you into the world where the oral legends that knitted a community together found expression in their sacred art."
The schism between the Old Believers and the state church in Russia in the 17th century was serious and had long-lasting ramifications, with many Old Believers persecuted and feeling forced to move. A large number went to the further reaches of Russia and the Baltic states. Some Old Believers eventually settled in the United States, including in New Jersey, Willson noted.
"Saint Nicholas and Scenes from his Life" might have been painted by Old Believer artists in one of the Baltic states, Willson said.
'Focused on receiving new audiences'
The icon is a gift to the museum from Lynette and Brandon Hull and was acquired from the Temple Gallery in London, England. Lynette Hull is a member of the museum's board. The Temple Gallery is one of the top four in Western Europe for Eastern European art and icons, Willson said.
Simon Morsink, executive director at the Icon Museum and Study Center, said in an announcement, “We’re thrilled to add this important piece to the museum’s collection, and deeply grateful to Lynette and Brandon Hull, who very generously supported this acquisition.”
Now that museum has the icon it can be studied closely there and it will be used for teaching. Also, the museum said the icon will support its strategic efforts to acquire works that expand research on the diversity of religious traditions within the Orthodox church.
"We're really focused on receiving new audiences," Willson said.
"Saint Nicholas and Scenes from his Life" was unveiled at the museum's annual holiday Open House for members onDec. 6, coinciding with the traditional feast day of Saint Nicholas. There is another upcoming day coinciding with the new acquisition — "People know Saint Nicholas as Santa Claus," Willson said. The unveiling took place amid Christmas decorations at the museum.
The icon will be displayed on a prominent wall at the museum for the next six months.
The nonprofit museum is the only specialized museum for icons and Eastern Christian art in the United States.It was formerly the Museum of Russian Icons, and officially changed its name to the Icon Museum and Study Center on Oct. 14, 2023.
The museum was founded in 2006 by the late industrialist and art collector Gordon B. Lankton, a plastics engineer and former chairman and CEO of Nypro Inc., a precision injection molding company.Lankston had developed an extensive personal collection of icons, beginning with one of Saint Nicholas. The museum was led for more than 16 years by founding directorKent dur Russell.
Morsink, a Dutch art historian and icon expert in Russian icons, Greek icons and Ethiopian and Byzantine art, came on board as the museum's new executive director in 2022.
Willson joined the museum as curator in February. He is a specialist in the art of Byzantium and the early Slavic world.
"I taught high school for four years and then decided to go back to school for art history," he said. He has a doctorate in art history, criticism and conservation from Princeton University. His book, "The Moods of Early Russian Art," will be published in 2026.
He now lives in Worcester. "The city's great," he said. He noted that there are a number of people with Orthodox heritages in Worcester including Greeks, Albanians and Armenians. Which is also good for the nearby museum. "The museum has an opportunity to meet new audiences."
Originally from southern Georgia, U.S., and the son of a pecan farmer, Willson said he has no family Orthodox background that led him to be interested in Orthodox art and icons.
"For me it was really the style of these objects. The more I dug into that I saw they did it with fantastic grace," he said. "I just became fascinated by that, and there's a lot of work that you can do. The story deserves to be better known than it is. I became captivated by it."
For more information about the Icon Museum and Study Center, visit iconmuseum.org.
