Icoon

Antique Russian Orthodox so called kiot ( shrine) with a wood carved statue of the Holy Hermit Saint Nilos of Stolbensk, died 1555. Saint Nilos of Stolbensk is one of the most famous and venerated Russian monks, hermits and staretz. Initially he joined a convent of contemplative monks but later in live he withdraw in the wilderness in a hermitage. Hundreds and thousands of faithfull followed him in the wilderness to ask for spiritual direction and to be cured. This forced him to even move deeper in the wilderness to the Stolbny Island in the Seliger lake near Ostashkov in the Twer region. He lived 27 years in solitude before he died in 1555. On the place of his hermitage a convent was erected which grew to one of largest and most visited of the Russian Empire. The monks made wooden carved statues of Nilos to sell as pilgrim souvenirs to the faithfull. This one is placed in an elaborated and richly decorated shrine circa 1880.

in Interieur en decoratie / Religieuze objecten