This icon of St. Nicholas is in the huge collection of the museum here. I'm not sure why, but he's a favorite saint, almost as popular as Holy Mary. Our teacher told us a joke about a peasant who thought St. Nicholas could probably replace Jesus in importance, at least in Russia. The oldest icons were from the 11th century, I think. They are painted on wooden panels that are covered in woven linen, and prepared with a mixture of gypsum, clay and animal glue. Sounds like an early version of gesso, maybe. This icon was painted in 1294. Those egg tempera paints held up pretty well.
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