St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was the Archbishop of the city of Myra in the Roman province of Lycia in the 3rd century A.D. Then the Roman Emperor Diocletian violently persecuted Christians, but in the year 324, Constantine the Great became the Roman Emperor. He made Christianity the main religion in the Empire and ordered to release all captive Christians from prison.

In the iconography of St. Nicholas of Myra they distinguish three main types of icons. The first type depicts St. Nicholas the Wonderworker traditionally at half-length holding the Gospels in his hands. On the second type, called St. Nicholas of Mozhaisk, they paint the Saint at full length holding a sword and a symbolic city tower in his hands. The icon from the collection of the Rybinsk Museum Reserve belongs to the third type, called St. Nicholas of Zaraisk. St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is also painted full-length with a closed Book of the Gospels. However, the Rybinsk image is different in that the Saint is holding a cross in his right hand, while usually he was painted with his right hand up in a gesture of blessing.

The icon is painted in oil, in compliance with all the rules of easel painting: the images are dimensional; the space is easily divided into the foreground and the background. Moreover, the image reveals features of the Baroque style that was widespread in secular arts of that time period: bright and intensive colors, flowery ornaments on the raiment of the Saint and dramatically painted curling clouds with angels. In their lightened parts one can see tone values: smooth transitions between keys. Such practice was often used by painters of the Classicism that was replacing the Baroque. Scientists believe that this work is indicative of the high level of artistic expertise of the icon painter Alympius.

The icon appeared in the Museum collection in 1998. It was handed over by the restoration artist Yekaterina Tsaplina.