In 1938, Nicholas II was canonized by the Serbian Orthodox Church, in 1981 by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), and in 2000 by the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The first fresco of Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II was painted at the request of Bishop Nicholas in the Zicha Monastery (near Kraljevo).
According to one observer: «One corner in the new, already consecrated Church of St. Sava in Zichy, is dedicated to the Russian Tsar Nicholas II. There, the artist Baron Mayendorf painted a fresco which represents the saint-tsar before he was canonized …»
This fresco, like many other Russian saints in the Church of St. Sava, was hidden after the communists came to power so that they would not be destroyed. The nuns covered the murals with special paper, which they then painted blue to simulate a bare wall. The murals remained hidden for decades and were rediscovered ten years ago.
