Likenesses of Saint Nicholas Part of the Saint Nicholas Page honoring Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker

Icons

Orthodox Christianity prefers icons (Greek eikonas - "images") to other representations of saints and sacred scenes. Icons are most often painted ("written") in Byzantine style, which purposely avoids a realistic depiction of the object. Icons are both teaching aids and "windows into heaven", reminding us of the union with God that is the end of our spiritual endeavors, and of the "great cloud of witnesses" that has preceded us in the faith.

In Orthodox Christian practice (as in Roman Catholic and other ancient Christian usage), icons are not worshiped, as some mistakenly suppose, for God alone is worshiped. Rather, icons are venerated: shown great respect, kissed, carried in processions. They are, if you will, the family pictures. The devotion shown to the icon is considered to be given directly to the ones depicted on the icon.

For a concise description of the purpose of icons in the Orthodox Church, see WINDOWS INTO HEAVEN from Tom Tsagalakis Iconography, Seattle, WA. Tom (Rev. Fr. Athanasios) is an ordained Orthodox priest serving in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

Several of the linked icons are "life icons". These portray the saint in the center, with scenes from the life and death of the saint clustered around the edges. A picture is worth a thousand words: Life icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, from The Orthodox Church in America

Painted Icons of Saint Nicholas

Icons in Orthodox churches, church properties, or church web sites

• Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Los Angeles, California. Saint Nicholas is depicted on the ikonostasion, the center icon of the three "blue floor" icons on the left.
• St. Nicholas 1895, the Church of St. George, the village of Sestrimo, Pazardjik region, Bulgaria, from the Bulgaria pages.
• Saint Nicholas' Anglican Church Bloomington, IL (Novgorod Icon of St. Nicholas)
• Saint Nicholas at the home page of Saint Athanasius Greek Orthodox Church of Arlington, MA
• Saint Nicholas from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia .
• Life icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, from St. Michael the Archangel Orthodox Church , Concord, California
• Saint Nicholas on the icons page (scroll down). Click on the icon for a larger view. From St. Nicholas Orthodox Church , McKees Rocks, PA (OCA)
• Saint Nicholas at St. Andrew Memorial Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA. In the lower photo, Saint Nicholas is at the far left.
• Saint Nicholas: Bishop of Myra, from the Coptic Orthodox Church site.
• On the iconostas of Decani Monastery Church of the Holy Pantocrator . With text, this same picture is found a little beyond halfway down in The Art of Decani Monastery . From the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Raska and Prizren in Kosovo, Serbia. Pray for peace in Kosovo and all of Yugoslavia.
• Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church , Corpus Christi, Texas
• Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral , New York City
• The Saint Michael Orthodox Church site has two life icons: (1) and (2) .
• Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, Dallas, Texas, has a photograph of the Myrrh Streaming Icon of St. Nicholas.
• Saint Nicholas in the center part of a triptych (portable folding icon.) The left and right wings of the triptych appear to hold scenes from the life of Saint Nicholas. Hosted by Saint John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral , Washington, D.C.
• Saint Nicholas , from Saint George Greek Orthodox Church, Des Moines, Iowa
• Several icons (including on the home page) of St.Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church , Chisholm, Minnesota:
  • Saint Nicholas by Fiodor Zobuv, 1677;
  • Saint Nicholas with Kontakion (Hymn) of Saint Nicholas in Slavonic and story.
• A number of icons shown on the pages of Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church , San Anselmo, CA as hosted at Christianity.com :
  • St. Nicholas Orthodox Church
  • "Stories about St. Nicholas" - one at the top and one at the bottom. At the bottom is the "Hermitage icon of Saint nicholas", dated to 13th or 14th century; a product of the famous Russian town of Novgorod.
• Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church , Myrtle Beach (Surfside Beach), South Carolina
• "Iconograms" from Iconograms.com (sponsored by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese) include two of Saint Nicholas . Click on the small icon to see a larger representation, and, if you want, to send a message to someone that includes the icon. 
• From Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church, Orange Connecticut, an unusual icon of Saint Nicholas and a lengthy explanation of the saint's life.


• The officialMount Athos site hosts a number of sites of the monasteries on "Agion Horos" - the Holy Mountain. Some of them display their own icons of the saint.
  • Thumbnail icons of Saint Nicholas at the holy monastery of Saint Gregorios. For a larger view of the icons, either click on the thumbnails, or see these links:
    • Along the stairs leading to the monastery.
    • Saint Nicholas icon from the 15th century.
  • Holy Monastery of Ivrion. Larger view of the icon: Saint Nicholas with Saint Gregorios and Saint Anastasia.

Icons in other church-related sites

• Saint Nicholas from the Domestic Church online magazine for Catholic families.
• St. Nicholas , with scenes from his life (click for large version). Scenes identified! Polish, latter 16th century. From the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
• From Greek Catholic Union of the USA :
  • Saint Nicholas of Myra--It is Better to Give than to Receive (book cover)
  • A short slide show of St. Nicholas Chapel , most slides with icons.
• Saint Nicholas from Saint Nicholas of Myra Byzantine Catholic Church. Also an icon, the troparion and life story of Saint Nicholas .
• Saint Nicholas at Saint Nicholas Anglican Church , Hammonds Plains, Nova Scotia, Canada. Larger picture.
• Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker (Russian) on a Gospel book. Image sent by Metropolitan Archbishop Wayne M. Hay of the Anglican Catholic Byzantine Orthodox Church (sic). Used by permission.
• Saint Nicholas from Saint Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church, Fontana, CA
• From St. Mary's Byzantine Catholic Church , Kingston PA, St. Nicholas, the Wonderworker (scroll down). Click the icon for a larger view.

Icons in Turkish sites -- ancient Myra

• ST.NICHOLAS OF MYRA , with icon, history and picture of St. Nicholas of Myra Church, Demre, Turkey. From Ekol Tourism & Travel, Ltd , Turkey
• Santa's Sarcophagus (with icon) - a Turkish tourism site.

Other pictures of the Demre/Myra area may be found in the Turkey section of the Saint Nicholas pages .

Other icon sites

• Saint Nicholas Canada, 1955
• Saint Nicholas of Myra text, icons, figure
• Saint Nicholas of Myra from the Canadian Heritage Information Network . Click on the icon for a little more info. Follow the back triangle, too. This may be a mirror of the www.culture.fr site just above.
• Saint Nicholas Literature Nook
• Patron Saints Index Image Gallery: Saint Nicholas from the Catholic Forum
• Saint Nicholas by Ruth Duckworth
• Bishop Nicholas of Myra: Legends and sources from Eldrbarry's Story Telling Page
• Saint Nicholas at Kevin Nikolai Payne's The Orthodox Bard site
• Saint Nicholas at Nick's Greek Orthodox Page
• From Russian Traditions (English) (Russian), hosted by UniVi Initiative Project, Uncle Sandy Home page (when it's up):
  • Saint Nicholas life icon (top)
  • Saint Nicholas (second row, right)
  • Saint Nicholas (lower right)
  • Saint Nicholas life icon (top)
  • Saint Nicholas life icon, perhaps (lower left)
  • Saint Nicholas (third row right, and bottom right)
  • Saint Nicholas (lower right)
  • Saint Nicholas (second row left, bottom right)
• From The Russian Culture section of About.com, The Real Santa

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Last modified December 26, 2007.

Copyright © 1999-2007 Stephen Parsons