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There is one detail regarding Rublev on which
everybody agrees, that is, that he painted the famous icon "Trinity"
(Troitsa), the finest masterpiece of Russian painting. (For an illustration of
this icon please go to trinityicon. )The icon
depicts the biblical story of the visit of the three angels to Abraham and
Sarah. The Old Testament Trinity was always the symbol of the Church unity and
a popular subject in religious painting. The picture shows the three angels
sitting around a table, on which we see in the middle the sacrificial chalice.
The entire composition is executed with exceptional tenderness and love,
portraying the readiness of the angels to offer their lives for man's
salvation. Delicate lines gracefully contour the angels. Their bent heads and
bodies form a harmonious silhouette, strongly expressing their unity of
endeavor. Their faces transmit solemnity and peace. Soft, fresh, almost
transparent colors of golden pink, pale green, cherry red, blues, warm grays
and straw yellows intermix harmoniously. This is indeed a great painting.
The icon was commissioned by the Abbot of the Trinity and Saint Sergius
Monastery, Reverend Nikon, who succeeded Saint Sergius in 1392. Nikon is shown
as an art-minded man who wanted Rublev to paint the "Trinity Icon" as
a praise to father Sergius and as the best way to show Saint Sergius' ideal of
unity among Russian princes as the only way to free themselves from Tatar
domination. Rublev, obviously, fulfilled the request with great mastership and
love, producing his best work. Rublev's "Trinity" became one of the
most venerated icons, and was almost covered with gold, silver and precious
stones. Whoever came to the Monastery to see it and pray in front of it, tsar
or peasant, left his donation, a flower, half penny or an expensive diamond.
This was the custom.
In 1904 Church authorities decided to clean the old icons in the Cathedral of
the Monastery. An experienced icon painter, V.P. Gryanov was entrusted for the
job. When he removed the golden trappings and jewels from Rublev's
"Trinity" he was shocked to see that it differed very little from
many icons painted by Palekh iconographers. His disappointment did not last
long: The real Rublev was on some parts of the icon under several layers
painted over the original. Guryanov cleaned most of the icon but not all of it
and, for the first time after five centuries, the real Rublev's painting was
visible. Its effect was tremendous, but most of those who saw it were
surprised; even among the top art authorities very few expected Rublev to paint
the way he did, Guryanov too in the beginning found that his style was
"Greek." After the Revolution the icon was taken from the Monastery,
cleaned completely where Guryanov had missed and also of his own retouchings;
it is now on display in the Tretiakov Gallery in Moscow. A copy was made and
sent to the Monastery, to fill the empty space left when the original was
removed. There is another reproduction, painted in the sixties, in Rublev's
Museum in the Andronikov Monastery. It was so perfectly done that if the
original was put side by side with the copy it would be difficult to
distinguish one from the other.
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