Pictures for St. Nicholas
Pictures for St. Nicholas
Blog Article
St. Nicholas (flourished 4th century, Myra in Lycia, Asia Minor [modern Demre]; Western feast day December 6; Eastern feast day December 19) is one of the most popular minor saints commemorated by the Church. He is the patron saint of children, sailors and charitable institutions. Devotion to the saint spread widely in the Middle Ages and he became a frequent subject of medieval artists' works, liturgical plays and other performances.
His early good deeds included secretly delivering three bags of gold coins to girls who would otherwise have been forced into prostitution to pay for their dowries; this story is a major episode that many pictures depict (including the famous Tintoretto painting, Nicolo da Ponte Invokes the Protection of the Virgin). Nicholas was portrayed as a bishop in the East and as a sleigh-driver or deliverer in the West. He was also a patron saint of sailors, and the stories of his miracles of salvation are told in many church plays and liturgical books.
The stories of his life and miracles were so widespread that he quickly became the patron saint of many countries. He is the patron saint of Greece and Russia, of Moscow and New York, and of charities, children and pawnbrokers. The church where his bones are buried, the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari, Italy, was built around 11th century; his remains were taken to this site from Myra by Italian sailors in 1807.
Countless books and articles explore the development of the saint as Santa Claus (or Sinterklaas, or Kringle) throughout history, and the process is fascinating. One of the most important developments occurred in the Netherlands, where a Dutch painter named Hieronymus Bosch (1628–1750) gave his name to the character now beloved by millions. Here the saint wears the robe and miter of a Western bishop, carries a book with his left hand and distributes gifts to children in his sleigh.
In the East, however, he is usually Bilder zum Nikolaus portrayed with a crozier instead of a miter. This reflects the episode at the Council of Nicea where, according to legend, the saint was so outraged by Arian heresy that he slapped its defenders; Christ and the Theotokos later restored him to his episcopal office. He is often shown with a bag or sack full of gifts, while other pictures show him holding a crucifix and/or Gospel book. A few pictures show Mary restoring his episcopal omophorion to him. He is also commonly depicted wearing a cap and sleeve hood. These images reflect the tradition in the Netherlands that on St. Nicholas's Day, or Sinterklaas, children put out wooden shoes and wait for gifts from the saint. These shoes are often filled with hay or other material, rather than traditional cookies called Speculaas. Other European countries have their own versions of the story, but all celebrate a holiday at which gifts are given to children by a figure who resembles the saint. In some cases this is represented by a man dressed in red, and in others by a woman.
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