Show all images on one page	#007542 Title: Icon of St. martyr Nataliya Artist: Rizhskaya Valeriya Size: 14.8x20.5x2 Size (inches): 5.75x8x0.75 Price : $750 SOLD!

This nice icon of Icon of St. martyr Nataliya was painted by a talented Kholui artist Rizhskaya Valeriya.
Ss. Adrian and Natalia lived in Nicomedia during the time of Emperor Maximian in the early fourth century.The twenty-eight year old Adrian was head of the praetorium.
Saint Adrian (also known as Hadrian) or Adrian of Nicomedia was a Herculian Guard of the Roman Emperor Galerius Maximian. After becoming a convert to Christianity with his wife Natalia, Adrian was martyred at Nicomedia on March 4, 306.
It is said that while presiding over the torture of a band of Christians, he asked them what reward they expected to receive from God. They replied, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9).He was so amazed at their courage that he publicly confessed his faith, though he had not himself yet been baptized. He was then immediately imprisoned himself. He was forbidden visitors, but accounts state that his wife Natalia came to visit him dressed as a boy to ask for his prayers when he entered Heaven.
The executioners wanted to burn the bodies of the dead, but a storm arose and quenched the fire. Natalia recovered one of Adrian's hands. Later, Christians took Adrian's body and buried him on the outskirts of Byzantium, at Argyropolis. Natalia went to live there, and when she herself died, she was buried with the martyrs.
This icon has been painted in the village of Kholui on the wooden base. According to the tradition of Russian icon painting, the work is painted in egg tempera paints and detailed with brilliant gold paint. The leaves of gold is also used to create a frame around the depicted icon.
Very often Palekh, Mstera and Kholui artists paint icons, and this decision isn't influenced by a fashion or a public demand. It is a century-old tradition. The schools of Palekh, Kholui, and Mstera appeared under the influence of icon painting.