The Holy Trinity by Andrei Rublev

The history of the creation of the “Holy Trinity” by Andrei Rublev is shrouded in many mysteries. Very little is known about the main work of Orthodox art. Neither the year the icon was written, nor the customer is precisely known.

The icon is written according to the Old Testament story "The hospitality of Abraham." According to the original, the forefather Abraham met three mysterious wanderers at the oak grove of Mamre, who will later be called angels. They told Abraham that a year later a son would be born from whom the Jewish people would go. Then two angels went to punish the inhabitants of Sodom, and the third angel stayed with Abraham.

Medieval icon painters necessarily depicted all the participants in the parable. Rublev introduced her in his own way. We see neither Abraham, nor his wife Sarah, but only the Trinity. Angels are arranged so that the lines of their figures form a close circle. Each has a scepter (a symbol of power) and azure garment (a sign of an unearthly entity).

In the center is God the Father. As the first among equals, he wears signs of power: purple garment with a gold stripe over his shoulder. He is turned towards the Holy Spirit, who, as if, asks a question about who will make an atoning sacrifice. At the same time, he blesses the cup by bringing two fingers to it. The Holy Spirit, answering God the Father, points to God the Son. The latter humbly accepts fate. His green cape (gimatiy) speaks of a dual nature (human and divine).

The Trinity sits at a table on which a cup with the head of a calf is a symbol of the sufferings of Christ, which he will do to atone for the sins of mankind. This bowl is the semantic center of the icon.

On the background are represented the house (Abraham's house), a tree (in the Rublev's interpretation the tree of life that God planted in Eden) and a mountain (the prototype of Calvary, to which Jesus is destined to ascend).

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