Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, is one of the most beloved saints in Orthodox iconography. The faithful honour him as a quick helper and powerful intercessor before God, and his icon can be found in almost every Orthodox church and in many home prayer corners. In our monastery's restoration workshop, the icon restorers also pray to Saint Nicholas as they work.
Today we look at several icons of the saint restored by the workshop.
People often bring in icons with metal covers, known as rizas. These covers range from simple foil or brass to silver and other precious metals. In the icon shown above, the riza was still in good condition, but much of the painted image beneath it had faded. To restore its appearance, the craftsmen reconstructed the missing areas and consolidated the flaking paint.
The faithful often showed their love for Saint Nicholas by decorating his vestments in many ways. Here, for example, handmade flowers have been attached to the icon. At times, the restorers have even had to remove Christmas-tree baubles from metal covers.
The workshop has also restored simple paper icons. It is remarkable how precious an icon can become to a family when several generations have prayed before it. People do all they can to preserve these family treasures for their children and grandchildren.
The next example shows the patience such work requires. The restorer carefully removed layers of old grime, uncovered the surviving original painting, filled in the missing areas, and followed the artist's style as closely as possible.
This image of the saint was painted in oil on a wooden panel. The influence of Western art is clear: the face is more naturalistic, more human in its modelling. Saint Nicholas is widely venerated not only by Orthodox Christians, but also by Christians of other traditions.
Restorers always begin by cleaning an icon and removing surface dirt. Their first rule is simple: do no harm. This particular piece has a fascinating history. It was privately commissioned, and the artist incised the gesso ground before applying gilding and blackening certain details. During cleaning, the restorers uncovered the original paint layer and added almost no new colour. The icon can now be seen much as it looked when it was first made.
Over time, physical damage can cause paint to lift from the icon board and flake away. Owners often try to save an icon themselves, even without specialist training. In this case, a simple homemade repair, including sealing the surface, helped stop the icon from deteriorating further.
Such efforts do not always end well, however. In this icon, the paint was most likely damaged by an unsuccessful attempt at amateur cleaning. By the time it reached the workshop, it was already in a serious condition. The only way to save it was to retouch the losses and fill in the missing areas.
This icon had been badly damaged by woodworm. The insects had eaten into the wooden panel, so the craftsmen first had to strengthen and repair the support. In this case, rebuilding the wooden foundation was as important as restoring the painted image.
Some icons have a luminous background made by a clever technique. The artist would first cover the area with silver leaf, then paint the icon, and finally apply an amber-coloured varnish. The result is a golden glow that resembles real gold, but is far less costly.
People also bring in icons printed on metal. On this image of Saint Nicholas, rust had spread across the surface. Out of love for the saint, owners sometimes try to rescue such objects themselves. In this case, someone had painted the icon with ordinary bronze paint. It gave the surface a bright golden sheen, perhaps meant to suggest the heavenly radiance of the image, but it did not solve the problem beneath.
To save the icon, the restorers cleaned the metal and applied a specialist protective coating. They also toned down the new layer so that the bright background would not draw attention away from the face of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker.
As these examples show, every icon has its own story, and every restoration calls for its own approach.
