Thought I’d let you know in case you were going to be anywhere near Bari, Italy before May:

The story of St. Nicholas and the extraordinary richness and variety of the art devoted to him are the themes of a feast of an exhibition, "St. Nicholas: Artistic Splendors of East and West." The show in the ancient citadel of Castello Svevo, curated by Michele Bacci, contains over 100 pieces from more than 50 collections and will continue until May 7. From the beginning of February, the exhibition will be joined by eight precious icons from St. Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai, the earliest of them from the 10th century, which are the oldest surviving painted images of the saint.

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The Greek and Russian icons on display here offer a fascinating picture not only of the development of the image of the saint, but that of icon painting in general.

St. Nicholas is thought to have been the first saint to feature as the subject of a "hagiographical icon" depicting, as well as his likeness, bordering vignettes of his life, works and miracles. This type of icon appeared in the late 12th century in locations as far apart as St. Catherine’s in the Sinai desert in the East and Puglia, Italy, the region of Bari, in the West, suggesting remarkably rapid sea-borne promulgation of innovative forms.

St. Nicholas is often shown flanked by Christ, handing him the gospels, and the Virgin Mary his bishop’s stole, lending him exceptional kudos. Again anomalously, he also figures regularly in depictions of the Church fathers although no writings by him were known.

The saint’s cult spread into Russia along river trading routes from the earliest days of its Christianization. And it was in Russia that the process of Nicholas’s virtual deification reached its apogee. Here he not only appeared in a privileged position in relation to Christ and Mary but was described as the "Russian divinity" and the "fourth member of the Trinity." He was sometimes portrayed in both paintings and sculptures with a sword in one hand and miniature representations of towns in the other — a mode of depiction unknown elsewhere — as defender of his people against their enemies (especially by the Tartars). Indeed, the presence of images of St. Nicholas scattered across forest and steppe, in towns, churches, chapels and wayside shrines, came to define the extent of the land of Rus and to mark the limits of its borders.

(By the way, this article is from the International Herald Tribune, which seems to have incorporated a new feature – audio versions of their articles (I did a random check of 5 articles from different sections, and they were all available in that format), clearly "read" by an automated system – no inflection, but pretty natural otherwise. Something to tell anyone you know who might be visually impaired in some way.)

Speaking of exhibits, Zadok has great photos and comments on an exhibit that will be at the Lateran Palace in Rome through February – on Papal Elections.

Speaking of saints, new information on Joan of Arc’s possible remains? (that is, a handful of ashes and a piece of cloth…)

French scientists, who have been studying those ashes, confirmed yesterday that a piece of cloth found among the remains may have been a fragment of Joan of Arc’s gown. A new series of DNA tests of bones and tissue found among the ashes is expected to confirm that they belong to a female.

These initial discoveries suggest recent controversial claims surrounding the death of Joan of Arc are wrong. One theory, put forward by Ukrainian anthropologist Sergey Gorbenko, suggested Joan was not even burnt at the stake but lived to the age of 57. Another theory is that she was a man.

But the initial discoveries by forensic anthropologist Philippe Charlier, the project’s leader, indicate that the standard version of Joan of Arc’s death – by being burnt as a witch by the English – appears to be right, although the research has added intriguing detail to the story of her execution. Further tests were needed, said Charlier.

Tests on one bone found in the relics showed it was the femur of a cat. The discovery tallies with the medieval practice of throwing a black cat on a witch’s pyre so as to appease the devil, according to Charlier. ‘However, this femur is not burnt – it just looks it – so maybe we are just dealing with a passing cat,’ he said.

Charlier said the most exciting discovery by his 18-strong team at the Hôpital Raymond Poincare near Paris was in the carbon-dating of the piece of cloth. ‘It is linen of high quality and we can confirm that it dates from the 15th century. It could have been a robe or a bag.’

According to historians, Joan of Arc was 19 when she was burnt at the stake in Rouen by the English on 30 May, 1431. She died of smoke inhalation. The Cardinal of Winchester is recorded as having ordered her to be burnt a second time. Her organs still survived this fire, so a third burning was ordered to destroy the body completely. Her cinders and debris were to be thrown into the Seine.

However, in 1867 ashes that were said to include remains of Joan of Arc were found in the Paris loft of an apothecary. These were transferred to a museum in Chinon where they are still kept.

Charlier said his team’s findings were preliminary and that work would continue at least until February next year.