St. Nicholas; early 19 century; the Church of the Blessed Virgin at the Karloukovo Monastery; painted by Christo Dimitrov; Samokov school; tempera on wood; 105 x 70 cm., National History Museum.

The icon has a decorated gilt frame and blue background. The inscriptions appear in gilt Baroque medallions. The icon is from the imperial row of the iconostasis.

It is a knee-length, full face depiction of St. Nicholas with typical characteristic features as described in the Hermenias and in traditional attire for his rank - phelonion, sakkos and omophorion.

This icon is also Christo Dimitrov's work, as evidenced by the painting technique and the identical technical data.

It is notable how carefully the painter rendered the details of the Saint's garments. The omophorion, the enkolpion and the crown are decorated with ornamentation. The sakkos is decorated with painted nosegays of flowers, which cause the icon emanate cheerfulness and gaiety. A certain mawkishness is created by the manner of painting the clouds and the orange hue of the heaven - taken directly from Guido Reni. The Saint's face, however, is still classical. An ideal line delineates the oval of the face, the contour of the hands and the folds of the cloth under the closed Gospel.