Icon of the Miracle of George of the Dragon – a unique monument of Novgorod art of the 16 cent. Publication of monument М., 2013 (original) (raw)

«…взят сей образ из Диких полей»: новгородская икона Николая Чудотворца из Свято-Духова монастыря и Никитская вотчина Софийского Дома / “…This image was taken from Wild Fields”: the Novgorod icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker from the Holy Spirit Monastery

Вестник сектора древнерусского искусства. Журнал по истории древнерусского искусства. М., ГИИ, 2022. Вып. 1. М., С. 122–133., 2022

Unlike many Pre-Mongolian icons, whose origin is confirmed or established thanks to written sources, the original purpose of the image of St. Nicholas (middle of the 13th century) from the Holy Spirit Monastery, which is traditionally tied to the decoration of this monastery, remains unknown. Before the removal of the late layer during the restoration of 1925–1928 in the CSRW (Central State Restoration Workshop), there was an inscription on its lower field informing about the creation of the icon in 1500 and its transfer from Dikie Polia (Wild Fields). Such a toponym is found in the documents of the Bishops' House of Novgorod, where an inventory of the wooden church of Saints Nikita and John the Wonderworkers of Novgorod, erected in the newly acquired patrimony of the Sophia House around 1679, has been preserved. Apparently, the icon of St. Nicholas was also transferred to Dikie Polia among the bishop's property, and after the sale of the patrimony at the end of the 17th century, it was returned to Novgorod. The origin of the icon can be thus associated with the highest social stratum of the old city.

Related papers