[1][2][3][4] The narrative of the painting is linked to one of the deeds of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker (of Myra), whose courageous and principled actions helped to prevent the execution of three innocent people.

The writer Mitrofan Remezov praised Repin's Saint Nicholas as the best of all the paintings presented at the exhibition "both in idea and execution",[9] while Leo Tolstoy noted that the content of the canvas was "not artistic, not new, not dear to the author", "the whole picture is without focus, and all the figures crawl apart".

[11][12] According to art historian Nikolai Mashkovtsev, Nicholas of Myra should not be considered an icon or a religious work - "Repin was carried away to the point of self-forgetfulness by the expression of the actors, especially the convicts", and he shows "the initial, the strongest moment of mental impetus".

[13] Art historian Nonna Yakovleva noted that Repin "as if calling on the favourite holy wonderworker to stop the flow of blood in Russia, puts the audience in the face of one of his miracles".

[18] Apparently, the order was timed to coincide with the 800th anniversary of the translation of the relics of Saint Nicholas from Myra to Bari, which was expected to be celebrated in 1887.

[20][5] In order to gather material, Repin appealed to art critic Vladimir Stasov, writing to him in a letter dated 30 September 1886:[Note 1] "Do not forget, please, if you find anything about Nicholas the Wonderworker, put it aside for me.

The art reviewer of the Berlin newspaper National-Zeitung, Georg Voß, wrote that the canvas St Nicholas is "full of such an amazing power of colour, which is found only maybe in Böcklin himself.

[1][2] As Alexander III himself was no longer alive in 1897 (he died in 1894), the painting is considered to have been a gift from his son Nicholas II[32] (the catalogue states that it came from the Winter Palace).

[33] The painting is currently on display in Hall 34 of the Mikhailovsky Palace, where it is exhibited alongside other renowned works by Repin, including Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, Seeing off the recruit and portraits of V.V.

[38] The painting's narrative is based on one of the deeds of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker (approximate dates of life - 270-345 AD), which he performed while serving as bishop in Myra, a city located in Lycia (present-day Turkey, specifically the Turkish province of Antalya).

Anxious to stop this injustice, Nicholas hurried back to Myra and arrived at the Dioscurov field where the execution was to take place, just as the executioner was about to begin.

[39] In his work, The Life and Works of our Holy Father Nicholas the Wonderworker, the 10th-century Byzantine writer Symeon the Metaphrast offers the following account of the story: "When the saint saw this, and turned his eyes to the sad spectacle, he balanced his severity with gentleness, said neither a bold nor a harsh word, but neither did he show any apprehension or timidity; as much as his strength reached he ran to the executioner, boldly snatched the sword from his hands, and, fearing nothing, threw it to the ground, and set the condemned free from their chains.

[5] The painting depicts a crowd of people at the rear of the scene, their expressions indicating a tense observation of the events unfolding in the foreground.

In a letter to Alexander Zhirkevich dated 4 September 1896, Repin provided details regarding the Nizhny Novgorod exhibition: "My St. Nicholas was pulled out of Kiev.

[47] Furthermore, in 1890 Repin created a smaller iteration of the painting, which is currently housed in the Kharkiv Art Museum (paper on canvas, oil, 126 × 98 cm).

[5] Nevertheless, according to art historian Olga Lyaskovskaya, the two later versions are considerably weaker than the painting from the Russian Museum: "in them the hysterical note is extremely strengthened, Nicholas himself no longer intervenes in the course of events, he only persuades; the courageous image of the condemned man has been replaced by a figure of a completely different content".

[48] Another variation of the painting Saint Nicholas of Myra saves three innocents from death was created by Ilya Repin's students under his direct supervision.

[55] A sketch for the author's repeat from the Kyiv Picture Gallery is held in the State Russian Museum (canvas, oil, cardboard, 34.2 × 28.7 cm, about 1889, inv.

[1][33] The Ateneum in Helsinki houses a study for the image of St Nicholas of Myra named Saint Nicolas (1888, oil on canvas, 30 × 24 cm, inv.

[60] Upon the painting's appearance at the 17th Peredvizhniki exhibition, the writer Nikolai Leskov wrote to Repin (the letter is dated 27 February 1889), "I greet the great and undoubted success of your works.

In this instance, Leskov was making reference to Henryk Siemiradzki's large-format painting, entitled Phryne at the Festival of Poseidon in Eleusis.

[61] In an article published in the journal Russian Mind (May 1889 issue), the writer Mitrofan Remezov offered high praise for Repin's Saint Nicholas, considering it the best of all the canvases presented at the 17th travelling exhibition.

Discussing the image of Nicholas of Myra, Remezov noted that "it was not the physical strength of the elder bishop that prevented the execution, but the great spiritual power, with amazing skill expressed by the artist in the countenance and in the whole figure of the saint".

"[10] Commenting on these words of Tolstoy, art historian Galina Elshevskaya wrote that Repin "got carried away with the psychology of the 'last minutes', and in the realistic narration of human affects... not only the preachy and edifying overtones of history were removed, but also its high taste in general"[62] In the chapter dedicated to Repin in his book "History of Russian Painting in the XIX century", the artist and critic Alexandre Benois noted that "the weak point of 'St Nicholas' - the banal expression of the saint, the caricature of the rest", but at the same time, "the only successful place - the sneaky grimace of a Byzantine kingmaker".

[63] Benois identified Repin's paintings Sadko (1876, Russian Museum) and Nicholas of Myra as illustrative examples of the selection of themes that were arguably premature for the 1870s and 1880s, indicating that their author "was not at heart a faithful son of the travelling church" and that "he was drawn to other, more exalted spheres".

[64] In the view of art historian Nikolai Mashkovtsev, the painting Saint Nicholas of Myra saves three innocents from death is not an icon or a work on a religious theme.

[13] The critic Boris Asafiev (literary pseudonym - Igor Glebov) wrote: "When he [Repin] exhibited at the travelling exhibition of 1889 a remarkable painting "Saint Nicholas of Myra saves from death penalty three innocents in the city of Myra of Lycia", very few people understood that the point here is not in an act of mercy and not in the innocents (which painting can not show), but in the psyche of the people over whom the sword hangs.

Emphasising the fact that Nicholas of Myra is a native image for the Russian people, Yakovleva noted that Repin "as if calling upon the favourite holy wonderworker to stop the flow of blood in Russia, puts the audience in the face of one of his miracles.