Norms: The Saints Collection | Saint Nicholas

It’s a public holiday in Spain today, which can’t be bad going this close to Christmas. And the reason for the break? Why jolly old Saint Nicholas of course, a saint with whom I share both a name and no doubt a love of gift giving, and whose feast day on the 6th December is timed perfectly with the arrival of Christmas spirit across the world.

So what better excuse, thought I (as if one were needed), to relaunch a further instalment of my now close to sold-out Norm Saints Collection than to create St Nicholas Norm himself.

St Nicholas Norm (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen and gold paint on paper)

Better known these days as the red-robed, large tummied, jolly old Santa Clause whose name derivates from the Dutch Sinterklaas, itself from a series ofelisions and corruptions of the transliteration of “Saint Nikolaos”, the original Saint Nicholas was far less colourful, but no less generous. The various legends surrounding the saint include his secret payment of the dowries of three daughters of a wretched poor man in order to prevent them from entering into prostitution, as well as the rescue of three boys who were being incarcerated in a tub by an evil butcher who planned to make them into pies in a kind of precursor tale to Sweeney Todd. Thus, in traditional depictions, three boys are often shown in a tub, and St Nicholas is often shown clutching three bags of coins to represent the dowries he generously bestowed upon the three girls. And naturally, true to form, both images appear in my Saint Norm depiction.

But asides from specific legends, St Nicholas is known throughout Christendom as the patron Saint of Children, and indeed of sailors, so references to both appear in this sketch, while his routes in the Orthodox world are reflected in my somewhat festive orthodox skyline. All in all, a Christmassy Norm Saint for the Christmas Season.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacy-brown.com