Description of the Trinity icon by Andrei Rublev. Icon of the Holy Trinity

Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art named after Andrei Rublev

Andrey Rublev.
Part 4. Icon of the Trinity.

The Tretyakov Gallery also houses the most famous work of Andrei Rublev - the famous “Trinity”. Created in the prime of his creative powers, the icon is the pinnacle of the artist’s art. During the time of Andrei Rublev, the theme of the Trinity, which embodied the idea of ​​a triune deity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), was perceived as a symbol of the reflection of universal existence, the highest truth, a symbol of spiritual unity, peace, harmony, mutual love and humility, readiness to sacrifice oneself for the sake of the common benefits.

Sergius of Radonezh founded a monastery near Moscow with a main church in the name of the Trinity, firmly believing that “by looking at the Holy Trinity, the fear of the hated discord of this world was overcome.”

St. Sergius of Radonezh, under the influence of whose ideas Andrei Rublev’s worldview was formed, was a holy ascetic and an outstanding personality in the history of mankind. He advocated for overcoming civil strife, actively participated in the political life of Moscow, contributed to its rise, reconciled warring princes, and contributed to the unification of Russian lands around Moscow.

A special merit of Sergius of Radonezh was his participation in the preparation of the Battle of Kulikovo, when he helped Dmitry Donskoy with his advice and spiritual experience, strengthened his confidence in the correctness of his chosen path and, finally, blessed the Russian army before the Battle of Kulikovo. The personality of Sergius of Radonezh had special authority for his contemporaries; a generation of people during the Battle of Kulikovo was brought up on his ideas, and Andrei Rublev, as the spiritual heir of these ideas, embodied them in his work.

In the twenties of the 15th century, a team of masters, headed by Andrei Rublev and Daniil Cherny, decorated the Trinity Cathedral in the monastery of St. Sergius, erected above his tomb, with icons and frescoes. The iconostasis included the “Trinity” icon as a highly revered temple image, placed according to tradition in the lower (local) row on the right side of the Royal Doors. There is evidence from one of the sources of the 17th century about how the abbot of the monastery Nikon instructed Andrei Rublev “to paint the image of the Most Holy Trinity in praise of his father Saint Sergius.”

Andrey Rublev. Trinity. 1420s.

The plot of “Trinity” is based on the biblical story of the appearance of deity to righteous Abraham in the form of three beautiful young angels. Abraham and his wife Sarah treated the strangers under the shade of the Mamre oak, and Abraham was given to understand that the deity in three persons was embodied in the angels. Since ancient times, there have been several options for depicting the Trinity, sometimes with details of the feast and episodes of the slaughter of the calf and the baking of bread (in the gallery’s collection these are 14th-century Trinity icons from Rostov the Great and 15th-century icons from Pskov).

In the Rublev icon, attention is focused on the three angels and their condition. They are depicted seated around a throne, in the center of which is a Eucharistic cup with the head of a sacrificial calf, symbolizing the New Testament lamb, that is, Christ. The meaning of this image is sacrificial love. The left angel, signifying God the Father, blesses the cup with his right hand. The middle angel (Son), depicted in the gospel clothes of Jesus Christ, with his right hand lowered onto the throne with a symbolic sign, expresses submission to the will of God the Father and readiness to sacrifice himself in the name of love for people.

The gesture of the right angel (the Holy Spirit) completes the symbolic conversation between the Father and the Son, affirming the high meaning of sacrificial love, and comforts the doomed to sacrifice. Thus, the image of the Old Testament Trinity (that is, with details of the plot from the Old Testament) turns into the image of the Eucharist (the Good Sacrifice), symbolically reproducing the meaning of the Gospel Last Supper and the sacrament established at it (communion with bread and wine as the body and blood of Christ). Researchers emphasize the symbolic cosmological significance of the compositional circle, into which the image fits laconically and naturally.

In the circle they see a reflection of the idea of ​​the Universe, peace, unity, which embraces multiplicity and cosmos. When comprehending the content of the Trinity, it is important to understand its versatility. The symbolism and polysemy of the images of the “Trinity” go back to ancient times.

For most peoples, such concepts (and images) as a tree, a bowl, a meal, a house (temple), a mountain, a circle, had a symbolic meaning. The depth of Andrei Rublev's awareness in the field of ancient symbolic images and their interpretations, the ability to combine their meaning with the content of Christian dogma, suggest a high level of education, characteristic of the enlightened society of that time and, in particular, of the artist’s likely environment.

The symbolism of the “Trinity” is correlated with its pictorial and stylistic properties. Among them, color is the most important. Since the contemplated deity was a picture of the heavenly heavenly world, the artist, with the help of paints, sought to convey the sublime “heavenly” beauty that was revealed to the earthly gaze. The painting of Andrei Rublev, especially the Zvenigorod rank, is distinguished by a special purity of color, nobility of tonal transitions, and the ability to impart a luminous radiance to the color.

Light is emitted not only by golden backgrounds, ornamental cuts and assists, but also by the delicate melting of bright faces, pure shades of ocher, and the peacefully clear blue, pink and green tones of the angels’ clothes. The symbolism of the color in the icon is especially palpable in the leading sound of blue-blue, called Rublevsky cabbage roll. Comprehending the beauty and depth of content, correlating the meaning of the “Trinity” with the ideas of Sergius of Radonezh about contemplation, moral improvement, peace, harmony, we seem to come into contact with the inner world of Andrei Rublev, his thoughts translated into this work.

The most famous and celebrated work of Andrei Rublev is the image of the Holy Trinity. The icon comes from the local row of the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra (since 1929 - in the Tretyakov Gallery); was revered in the monastery as miraculous. In the “Tale of the Holy Icon Painters” there is evidence that Abbot Nikon asked “to paint an image of the Most Holy Trinity in praise of his father Saint Sergius.” The authorship of Rublev is also evidenced by the resolution of the Stoglavy Council of 1551, where it was ordered to paint the Holy Trinity “as Greek icon painters wrote and as Andrei Rublev wrote.” There are two opinions on the issue of dating the icon: a number of scientists suggest that it was painted for the wooden church of the Trinity Monastery, built by Abbot Nikon after the invasion of Edigei, and date the icon to 1412, others date it to the 20s. XV century, connecting its origin with the stone cathedral of the monastery, founded in 1422. In the XVI century. Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich the Terrible made a contribution to the monastery, decorating the icon with a basma gold frame with gold crowns and enamel tsats, which were later transferred to the frame of the tsar’s time.

REVEREND ANDREY RUBLEV

In the terrible times of wars and strife in the 14th-15th centuries, the great icon painter Andrei Rublev appeared in Rus'. The idea of ​​Rublev as a man of kind, humble disposition, “full of joy and lightness,” has been preserved. He was characterized by great internal concentration. Everything he created is the fruit of deep thought. Those around him were amazed that Rublev spent a long time carefully studying the creations of his predecessors, treating the icon as a work of art.

Although Rublev's name was mentioned in chronicles in connection with the construction of various churches, he became known as an artist only at the beginning of the twentieth century after the restoration in 1904 of the “Trinity” - the main shrine of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the most perfect work of ancient Russian painting. After clearing this icon, it became clear why the Stoglavy Cathedral decided to paint this image only the way Rublev painted it. Only then did the search for other works by the artist begin.

Andrei Rublev was born in the late 60s of the 14th century in the small town of Radonezh not far from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. In all likelihood, in his youth Andrei was a novice of this monastery, and then became a monk. In 1380, Rublev was already part of the princely artel of craftsmen, which moved from city to city and was engaged in the construction and decoration of churches. At that time, many churches were being built in Rus', and icon painters had to work in each of them. It is impossible to consistently trace Rublev's creative path, because ancient Russian icon painters never signed or dated their works. The historical evidence that has reached us about the life and work of Andrei Rublev is extremely poor in chronological data and largely contradicts each other. Only two messages appearing in the chronicles under 1405 and 1408 are indisputable. Here is the first one, which says that Theophanes the Greek, Prokhor from Gorodets and Andrei Rublev began work on the iconostasis of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. “The same spring began to sign the stone church of the Holy Annunciation at the Great Prince’s courtyard, not the same one that stands now, but the masters of Byahu Theophanes the icon-maker Grchin and Prokhor the elder from Gorodets, and the monk Andrei Rublev, and the same summer and the end.” Researchers have established that Rublev painted one of his best icons for the cathedral - “The Transfiguration”.

Apparently, the real monument of book art, “The Gospel of Khitrovo”, executed by Rublev, dates back to the same time. The manuscript received this name after the boyar to whom it belonged in the 17th century. The manuscript stands out for its impeccable execution. Miniatures, screensavers, figures of animal letters - this is a special world where everything lives, everything is spiritual. There is a lot of invention, humor, everything is imbued with deeply folk innocence, which is what our Russian fairy tales are all about. Lines of ornaments gently curl, reminiscent of grass stems, shapes of leaves, and flowers. A feeling of joy and ease is created by light, light colors: azure blue is combined with delicate greenery, cinnabar is red and gold glitters. Scientists suggest that such a precious manuscript as the “Gospel of Khitrovo” could have been created at the expense of the Grand Duke or the Metropolitan himself.

The second message from 1408 says that the masters Daniil Cherny and Andrei Rublev were sent to paint the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir: “That same summer, May 25, they began to sign the great stone church of the Holy Mother of God in Vladimir by order of the Great Prince, and the masters Danilo the icon painter yes Andrey Rublev." The Vladimir Assumption Cathedral was especially revered in Ancient Rus', and the Grand Dukes of Moscow never ceased to take care of its decoration. This happened in 1408, when Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich, son, ordered the lost parts of his 12th-century paintings to be replaced with new frescoes. The surviving frescoes represent a fragment of the grandiose composition of the Last Judgment, which occupied the western wall of the temple. Analysis of stylistic features helped scientists identify a group of images belonging to Rublev: they convey artistry, musicality of line, and grace. The trumpeting angel is youthfully beautiful, Peter is inspired and decisive, carrying the righteous to paradise.

The interpretation of the Last Judgment scene and its emotional mood are unusual: there is no feeling of horror before terrible punishments and the idea of ​​forgiveness and an enlightened mood triumph; Rublev’s worldview is clearly felt in this. Long years of searching, which already appeared in the frescoes of the Assumption Cathedral, found completion in the images of the so-called “Zvenigorod rank”. In them, Rublev summarized the thoughts of his contemporaries about the moral value of man. “Zvenigorod rite” is part of the iconostasis created for one of the Zvenigorod churches. The time of creation of this iconostasis is not known exactly. Now only fragments of the paintings in cathedrals have survived, and only three of the icons have survived. They were discovered in 1919 by Soviet restorers. “Their creator,” I.E. wrote about the Zvenigorod icons. Grabar, the first explorer of the precious find - could only be Rublev, only he mastered the art of subordinating these cold pink-lilac-blue colors to a single harmonizing will, only he dared to solve coloristic problems that were only possible for the Venetians, and even then years after his death." Of Rublev’s entire monumental plan, only half-length images of “The Savior”, “Archangel Michael” and “Apostle Paul” have survived.

While the icon painters were working in Vladimir, the army of the Tatar Khan Edigei moved towards Moscow. Having failed to take Moscow, the Tatars burned many cities, including the Trinity Monastery. The abbot of the monastery was Abbot Nikon. He sets about restoring and decorating the monastery with great zeal. On the site of a wooden temple it was erected in 1423-1424. white stone. In the mid-twenties, Daniil Cherny and Andrei Rublev were invited by Nikon to paint the new stone Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. These works by Rublev date back to 1425-1427.

Rublev painted the main icon of the monastery - the famous “Trinity”. Three angels - God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit - are inscribed by the artist in a triangle and a circle. The lines of wings and clothes flow into one another like melodies, and give rise to a feeling of balance and joyful peace. The overall luminosity of the icon is especially striking. The artist found ideal proportions not only in solving the figures of the composition. The relationship of light tones is also perfect, not fighting with contrasting dark colors, but in harmony and quietly singing with them the hymn to the joy of being. This shimmer of color allows the artist to achieve a truly symphonic sound of an orchestra of colors in the palette. The erased old gold glistens a little on the gesso, dark from time to time. The wise interweaving of shapes, silhouettes, lines, strokes of staves, the roundness of wings, falling folds of clothes, shining halos - all this, together with a complex mosaic of color, creates a harmony that is rare in its originality, noble, calm and majestic. And only two black squares in the background - the entrance to the house of Abraham - return us to the plot of the Old Testament. The luminosity of the “Trinity” is so striking that other icons in the Tretyakov Gallery exhibition appear dark and red-brown.

Shortly after the completion of work at the Holy Trinity, Daniel apparently died and was buried in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. Having lost his friend, Rublev returned to the Andronikov Monastery, where he completed his “ultimate” (that is, last) work. If you believe Epiphanius the Wise, Rublev took part not only in the painting of the Church of the Savior, but also in its construction. This church was built around 1426-1427. Her frescoes were probably painted in 1428-1430. Rublev died on January 29, 1430 in the Andronikov Monastery in Moscow, which now bears his name. In 1988, the year of the millennium of the baptism of Rus', the Russian Orthodox Church canonized Rublev. He became the first artist to be canonized by the Christian Church.

Six centuries ago, Russian people first saw the “Holy Trinity” icon painted by the monk Andrei Rublev. Until then, nothing like this had been seen in Rus', and, perhaps, in the entire Orthodox East. And they didn’t even dream that this was possible - to depict the inconceivable...

"Trinity" by Andrei Rublev is complete. Perhaps this is because we have lost the key to deciphering the ancient “theology in color.” Or maybe it seemed mysterious to the icon painter’s contemporaries. Unraveling its secrets, art critics will be breaking their spears for a long time. Rublev, like no one else, knew how to create in his works not one or two, but many layers of meaning, harmoniously subordinate to each other. To reveal them all, to fully read all the semantic levels of the “Trinity”, you need to be as subtle a thinker, knowing all the facets of Orthodox theology, worship and ascetic prayer, as the monk Andrei himself was - "exceeding all others in great wisdom".

Perhaps the icon that came out from under his brush struck the icon painter himself. He put all the strength of his soul and spirit into it. His prayer while working was clear and peaceful, and the tension that possessed him resulted in the deepest peace of harmony on the icon. The discord, violence, enmity, and cruelty reigning around in Rus' were melted in the pure heart of the icon painter into the contemplation of heavenly beauty and perfect love. It was as if the Holy Spirit himself was moving the hand of the monk Andrei, opening to his gaze the supermundane spheres. Or the Monk Sergius silently and invisibly talked with his disciple, bending over the board.

The birth of Rublev’s “Trinity” was associated with the initial stage of the canonization of Sergius of Radonezh, which lasted for more than thirty years, until the mid-1440s.

It all started after the Tatar invasion of 1408, when the wooden church that stood above the burial place of Sergius with the entire Trinity Monastery was burned to the ground. Along with the determination to restore the monastery better than before, Abbot Nikon conceived the idea of ​​glorifying his teacher as a saint. Even then, Sergius's successor began to think about finding the relics of the elder and erecting a stone Trinity Church - a worthy monument to the Radonezh leader.

Appearance of the Holy Trinity to St. Sergius. V. Firsov

But, obviously, it was not possible to get consent from the new Metropolitan Photius, who had just arrived in Rus' from Byzantium, to glorify a Russian monk still unknown to him. Nikon probably didn’t even wait for the money for the stone church. Time was “scarce and needy”; the princes of the Moscow land were forced to resume paying tribute to the Horde. After several years of neglect, a wooden church had to be re-erected on the church site of the monastery. Its consecration took place on the day of memory of Sergius, September 25, 1412 (according to another version, 1411).

The main characters in the preparation of the glorification of Sergius were, in addition to Nikon, the scribe Epiphanius the Wise and the icon painter Andrei Rublev.

After the consecration of the new church, Elder Epiphanius read before everyone who gathered for the celebration in the monastery his “Word of Praise to our Venerable Father Sergius.” (Several years later, it was included as the final part in the Epiphanius Life of Sergius.) Throughout the entire text of praise runs the thought of the angelic, “immaterial” life of Sergius on earth, his likening to the angelic image as “an earthly angel and a heavenly man.”

The icon painter Andrey went much further than Epiphanius in the matter conceived by like-minded people. According to many assumptions, he created his “Trinity” at that time specifically for the wooden monastery church. If in the mid-1420s he and his team painted the stone Trinity Church “in praise of Sergius,” then the equally laudatory “Trinity” preceded that. And in this icon Sergius is imprinted almost literally.

Numerous discrepancies in the interpretations of Rublev’s “Trinity” and the breaking of copies in scientific disputes occur, obviously, because this is not one iconic image, but several - superimposed on one another, complementary, appearing through one another. God the Trinity in the guise of three angelic travelers who once appeared to Abraham is the first and obvious layer of meaning. The second is the Church of Christ in its trinity: Christ as its head and creator, angelic heavenly powers and people. The third layer is the sacrament of the Eucharist, which gathers all the faithful into a single divine-human organism by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is the uniqueness of the Rublev icon - in its ambiguity, multi-layeredness. It is impossible to interpret one level without taking into account the others without confusion of meanings and without falling into contradictions. But most interpreters stop at the first figurative “layer” lying on the surface, proving in which of the angels which Hypostasis should be seen - the Father, the Son or the Spirit...

Three angels are connected by a large bowl, the contours of which form two side figures, and the middle one is inside the bowl. They are connected literally, in the “bodily” and superphysical sense. Who is united by the liturgical sacrament of the Eucharist? Christ in the guise of a bloodless sacrifice in the chalice, fellow angels and people performing the sacrament and participating in it. In other words, the entire fullness of the Church, earthly and heavenly.

According to one version (its author is Alexander Selas, a series of articles “The Secret Writing of an Ancient Icon”), Rublev captured a very specific Eucharist in the “Trinity”. More precisely, a generalized image of the Eucharist, which was celebrated by Saint Sergius. And in the right angel, so different, according to many researchers, from the other two, the icon painter depicted the “disciple of the Holy Trinity” himself, Sergius of Radonezh. This is proven by deciphering the color symbolism of his clothes, the pose of perfect, monastic submission, obedience to the highest, God's will, and the expression of deep prayer on his face. Blue is the color of transformed physicality, creatureliness, green is the color of divine wisdom. And Epiphanius’s insistent definition of Sergius as an angelic husband fits into this series. And the mountain bent towards Christ behind the back of this angel. And the staff lying on the knee, and not standing vertically, like the other two. And even the fact that the right figure takes up noticeably less space on the icon than the left one, which is symmetrical to it.

The right angel is the priest at the moment of invoking the Holy Spirit on bread and wine, when he “gathers his mind together” in prayer. A. Selas left the traditional “hypostatic” explanation for the other two angels - Christ and the Holy Spirit. But the indivisible Trinity cannot be depicted as “three minus one” or “two plus one.” Having said A, you need to say B. And to do this, remember the episode of the Life of Sergius, in which during the liturgy the abbot will be served by the “husband of great lordship,” the angel of the Lord in a “gold-streamed” robe. Rublev was certainly familiar with this story of the old monks of the monastery. The fiery pink cloak of the left angel, which almost completely envelops him, really looks like “golden jet”. Only a fragment of a blue chiton speaks of the involvement of this angel in the created world - after all, angels are also created.

Where in the icon is the Holy Spirit, who also participates in the sacrament? Actually, everywhere, as befits the Spirit, “who is everywhere and fills everything.” This is the “clear predominance of golden tones,” which, among other things, distinguishes Rublev’s “Trinity” from others. Again, I recall the description from the Life: when Sergius served, the Holy Spirit in the form of fire walked along the altar, overshadowed the altar and illuminated the Holy meal.

A copy of the icon made by the remarkable restoration artist Baranov, located in the Trinity Cathedral of the Sergius Lavra. The original is in

However, the left angel can be interpreted differently. The head of Christ is imperiously turned towards him, giving an impulse to the circular movement that the viewer feels on the icon and which tangibly connects the side angels. Isn’t this depicting the process of Christ’s creation of the Church, its unfolding in time, in earthly centuries? From the initial calling of the apostles and the granting of the authority to perform the sacraments to each specific liturgy in each church, performed day after day by the priests - the successors of the apostles. This circular, rotational movement in this case is a visible expression of the continuous and grace-filled apostolic succession in the Church, coming from Christ. And the left angel is one of the apostles who were participants in the very first Eucharist on earth. The building above it, a symbol of the Church, seems to suggest: “...you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church” (Matthew 16:18). The Apostle Peter, moreover, as is known from the Life of Sergius, accompanied the Mother of God when She appeared to Sergius in his cell. And Rublev also knew about this from the stories of old monks.

Metropolitan Photius was a student of the sacredly silent ones - the Athonite hesychast monks, Orthodox mystics who contemplated the uncreated Divine light in deep prayer. The same mystics who practiced mental and heartfelt prayer were Sergius, Andrei Rublev, and probably Abbot Nikon. The icon painter could count on the fact that the symbolism of his “Trinity”, developed largely by hesychast theologians, would be read.

However, it is unknown how the church authorities of that time reacted to the hitherto unprecedented image. A new iconographic canon was born in the depiction of the Holy Trinity (it can be called the Rublev-Sergius canon, in contrast to the similar Athonite canon, which appeared a little earlier). Did he generally meet with understanding and approval among his contemporaries, or was he received with caution and hidden doubt? The icon amazed, but also, perhaps, at first frightened with its otherworldliness, some kind of transcendental penetration into God’s secrets...

However, the multi-layered nature of the “Trinity” ensures that anyone contemplating this icon, from the unlearned simpleton to the most sophisticated theologian, can see in it the message that the icon painter Andrei addressed to him. Read the meaning of the “Trinity” that is accessible to him.

A secular interpretation of the “Trinity” was popular among Soviet art critics. With a clear example of church dogma (about the One Divinity in Three Persons), Rublev called on the Russian princes to reconcile, to end the internecine hostility that had been destroying Rus' for centuries. Such an interpretation, of course, emasculated the theological content of the image and made the icon merely a flat illustration of a dogma with moral overtones. A sort of political manifesto in the spirit of “Princes of all lands, unite!”

However, it is impossible to deny that the iconographic message of monk Andrei about unanimity and overcoming “hateful discord” still existed. There was plenty of discord, hatred and fear in Rus' in those years, which Rublev himself witnessed. In 1410, the Nizhny Novgorod prince sent a detachment of three hundred Tatars and Russians on a predatory raid on the former capital of Rus', Vladimir. They completely robbed and burned the city, desecrated the ancient miraculous Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God in the Assumption Cathedral, stripping its precious frame. This raid on Vladimir, dated differently according to artistic design, was reproduced in A. Tarkovsky’s film “Andrei Rublev”.

Probably, soon after this pogrom, Andrei painted a spare Vladimir icon for the Assumption Cathedral. The image, in which the same theme of love and sacrifice sounds melodiously, the same melodious prayerfulness, enchants the same deep contemplation as in “Trinity”. He created this icon when the horror he had experienced had not yet left the city and the echo of Tatar sabers could be heard, and there were charred ruins all around. Perhaps in Andrei’s soul in those very days the royal harmony of the “Trinity” was born, perfect love that casts out fear.

However, in those same years, much more dangerous discord was brewing in Rus'. In just over a century, Moscow managed to rise above other Russian lands precisely because in the family of the Moscow princes there was no political squabble between brothers, uncles and nephews. But now, striving for internal peace and the unification of Rus', Moscow itself found itself face to face with the danger of civil strife. And this is a shadow over all of Russia, just after the Kulikovo field, which felt that its strength was in unity.

A deep quarrel, if not enmity, between the two eldest sons of Dmitry Donskoy, Vasily I of Moscow and Yuri of Zvenigorod, had been going on for several years, since Vasily declared his son his direct heir. Yuri also dreamed of the Moscow table and did not want to hear about Moscow, bypassing him, someday going to his nephew. Book people, clergy, monks who read old chronicles, who knew the centuries-old history of princely civil strife in Rus', understood: the enmity of brothers in the Moscow princely house was a very serious threat.

This shadow will cover the Russian lands in 1425, when Vasily I dies and his son Vasily II reigns in Moscow. Yuri Zvenigorodsky will start a war with his nephew, it will last a quarter of a century, it will be continued by Yuri’s sons. This long feud will again open the way to Rus' for the Tatars, will delay liberation from the yoke for many years, will flood the land with blood, and cover it with the shame of terrible crimes. In the early 1410s, Rublev could not help but hear about this still quiet enmity between the heirs of Dmitry Donskoy. Perhaps the heart of the prayer book and ascetic monk Andrei sensed future misfortune. The colors of his “Trinity” are literally filled with a prayer to God for peace and admonition of people.

Stills from A. Tarkovsky’s film “Andrei Rublev”

Prince Yuri Zvenigorodsky is a very difficult person. Godson and disciple of Sergius of Radonezh, spiritual son of St. Savva of Storozhevsky, temple builder and church benefactor. Surprisingly, Prince Yuri, a great admirer of Sergius, who did a lot for the Trinity Monastery, will make every effort not to fulfill the main behest of the saint: to overcome discord and enmity by contemplating the Holy Trinity.

And at the same time, Yuri... the alleged customer of Rublev’s “Trinity”.

Among researchers of Rublev’s work, there is a confident hypothesis that the “Trinity” and the three surviving images of the so-called Zvenigorod rank were part of one iconostasis ensemble. Three icons of the rank - “Savior”, “Archangel Michael” and “Apostle Paul” were discovered in Zvenigorod, on the territory of the princely residence of Yuri Dmitrievich. They are similar to “Trinity” in many stylistic features, color features, compositional and graphic characteristics, and finally, perfection of execution. Time separated them, and this probably happened in the second half of the 15th century. But before that they represented the indissoluble unity of the temple iconostasis...

Icon of the Holy Trinity - what is depicted on it? We will talk about this by examining the issue using the example of the ten most famous icons depicting the Holy Trinity.

The Holy Trinity

One of the founding fathers of ancient philosophy, and with it the entire European civilization, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle said: “Philosophy begins with wonder.” The same can be said about Christian dogma - it cannot but cause surprise. The worlds of Tolkien, Ende and Lewis with all their fabulous mysteries do not even touch the shadow of the mysterious and paradoxical world of Christian theology.

Christianity begins with the great mystery of the Most Holy Trinity - the mystery of God's Love, revealed in this one incomprehensible unity. V. Lossky wrote that in the Trinity we see the unity in which the Church abides. Just as the Persons of the Trinity remain unmerged, but constitute One, we are all gathered into the single Body of Christ - and this is not a metaphor, not a symbol, but the same reality as the reality of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist.

How to depict a mystery? Only through another secret. The joyful mystery of the Incarnation made it possible to depict the Indescribable. The icon is a symbolic text about God and holiness, revealed in time and space and abiding in eternity, just as the fairy-tale forest from Michael Ende’s “The NeverEnding Story”, created in the imagination of the protagonist, begins to exist without end and beginning.

We can comprehend this eternity thanks to one more mystery, far from the last in the world of Christian theology: God Himself enlightens every Christian, following the Apostles, by bestowing Himself - the Holy Spirit. We receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation, and He permeates the whole world, thanks to which this world exists.

So, the Holy Spirit reveals to us the mystery of the Trinity. And that is why we call the day of Pentecost - the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles - “The Day of the Holy Trinity”.

Trinity and “Hospitality of Abraham” - the plot of the icon of the Life-Giving Trinity

The indescribable can be depicted only to the extent that it has been revealed to us. On this basis, the Church does not allow the depiction of God the Father. And the most correct image of the Trinity is the iconographic canon “Hospitality of Abraham,” which sends the viewer to distant Old Testament times:

And the Lord appeared to him at the oak grove of Mamre, when he was sitting at the entrance to [his] tent, during the heat of the day.

He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood against him. When he saw it, he ran towards them from the entrance to [his] tent and bowed to the ground and said: Master! If I have found favor in Your sight, do not pass by Your servant; and they will bring some water and wash your feet; and rest under this tree, and I will bring bread, and you will strengthen your hearts; then go [on your way]; as you pass by your servant. They said: do as you say.

And Abraham hurried to Sarah’s tent and said to [her], “quickly knead three sati of fine flour and make unleavened bread.”

And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a tender and good calf, and gave it to the lad, and he hastened to prepare it.

And he took the butter and the milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set it before them, while he stood beside them under the tree. And they ate.

The story of a hospitable old man who recognized God in three men is in itself touching and instructive for any believer: if you serve your neighbor, you serve the Lord. We meet the image of this event very early.

Mosaic on the triumphal arch of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome created in the 5th century. The image is visually divided into two parts. At the top, Abraham runs out to meet three men (one of them is surrounded by radiance, symbolizing the glory of the Divine). In the lower part, the guests are already sitting at the set table, and Abraham is serving them. Sarah stands behind Abraham. The artist conveys the movement by depicting the old man twice: here he is giving instructions to his wife, and here he turns around to bring a new dish to the table.

By the 14th century, the canon “Hospitality of Abraham” was already fully formed. Icon "Trinity of Zyryansk", which, according to legend, belonged to the brush of St. Stefan of Perm is a slightly modified version of it. Three angels are seated at a table, a calf lies under it, and Abraham and Sarah stand at the bottom left. In the background there is a building with a turret (the house of Abraham) and a tree (the Oak of Mamre).

The images may change, but the set of symbols and characters remains the same: three angels, a couple serving them, below - a calf (sometimes with a youth slaughtering it), an oak tree, the chambers of Abraham. 1580, icon " Holy Trinity in existence”, surrounded by stamps depicting events associated with the apparitions of the Trinity. An interesting detail: Abraham and Sarah here not only serve at the table, but also sit at it. The icon is located in the Solvychegodsk Historical and Art Museum:

More typical, for example, is a 16th-century icon from the Trinity-Gerasimov Church in Vologda. Angels are in the center of the composition, followed by Abraham and Sarah.

The icon is considered the pinnacle of Russian icon painting Trinity, written by Rev. Andrei Rublev. Minimum symbols: three angels (Trinity), a cup (Atoning sacrifice), a table (the Lord's Table, the Eucharist), a reverse perspective - “expanding” from the viewer (the space of the icon, describing the heavenly world, is immeasurably larger than the world below). Among the recognizable realities - an oak tree (Mamre), a mountain (here is the sacrifice of Isaac, and Golgotha) and a building (Abraham's house? Church?..).

This image will become a classic image for the Russian icon, although some discrepancies in details are possible. For example, sometimes the middle angel has a cross on his halo - this is how Christ is depicted on icons.

Icon of the Holy Trinity, 17th century

Another example: Simon Ushakov depicts the meal in more detail.

The canon “Hospitality of Abraham” is optimal for depicting the Holy Trinity: it emphasizes the unity of essence (three angels) and the difference of hypostases (angels are present in the space of the icon “autonomously” from each other).

Therefore, a similar canon is used when depicting the appearance of the Trinity to saints. One of the most famous images is Appearance of the Holy Trinity to Saint Alexander of Svirsky:

Non-canonical images

However, there have been attempts to portray God in the Trinity in other ways.

It is extremely rare in Western European and Russian temple painting to come across an image used in the iconography of the Renaissance, where three faces are combined in one body. It did not take root in church painting because of its obvious heresy (mixing of Hypostases), and in secular painting because it was unaesthetic.

The image is by Hieronymus Cocido, Spain, Navarre

But the image " Trinity New Testament"occurs often, although it contains the other extreme - the division of the Essence of the Divine.

The most famous icon of this canon is “ Fatherland» Novgorod school (XIV century). The Father sits on the throne in the form of a gray-haired old man, on his knees is the Youth Jesus, holding a circle with the image of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. Around the throne are seraphim and cherubim, closer to the frame are saints.

No less common is the image of the New Testament Trinity in the form of the Elder-Father, on the right hand - Christ the King (or Christ holding the Cross), and in the middle - the Holy Spirit, also in the form of a dove.

XVII century, Museum of Ancient Russian Art named after. Andrey Rublev

How did the canon of the “New Testament Trinity” appear if the image of God the Father, Whom no one has seen, is prohibited by the council? The answer is simple: by mistake. The book of the prophet Daniel mentions the Old Denmi - God:

The Ancient of Days sat down; His robe was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. (Dan.7:9).

It was believed that Daniel saw the Father. In fact, the Apostle John saw Christ in exactly the same way:

I turned to see whose voice was speaking to me; and turning, he saw seven golden lampstands and, in the midst of the seven lampstands, one like the Son of Man, clothed in a robe and girded around the chest with a golden belt: His head and hair were as white as white wool, like snow...

(Rev.1:12-14).

The image of the “Old Day” exists on its own, but is an image of the Savior, not the Trinity. For example, on the fresco of Dionysius in the Ferapontov Monastery, a halo with a Cross, with which the Savior is always depicted, is clearly visible.

Two more interesting images of the “New Testament Trinity” came from the Catholic Church. They are rarely used, but also deserve attention.

"Adoration of the Holy Trinity" by Albrecht Durer(the painting is kept in the Vienna Museum of Art History): at the top of the composition is the Father, below Him is Christ on the Cross, and above them is the Spirit as a dove. The Trinity is worshiped by the Heavenly Church (angels and all saints with the Mother of God) and the Earthly Church - the bearers of secular (emperor) and ecclesiastical (pope) power, priests and laity.

Image " Coronation of the Mother of God“is associated with the Mother of God dogmas of the Catholic Church, but due to the deep veneration of the Most Pure Virgin by all Christians, it also became widespread in Orthodoxy.

The Virgin Mary on images of the Trinity, Prado, Madrid

In the center of the composition is the Virgin Mary, the Father and the Son holding a crown over Her head, and a dove depicting the Holy Spirit hovers above them.

The plot of the famous icon by Andrei Rublev is based on the 18th chapter of the book of Genesis, which tells about the appearance of three radiant men to the elderly forefathers Abraham and Sarah, near their tent near the oak grove of Mamre. Abraham received the extraordinary travelers, bowed down and washed their feet, ordered them to slaughter the best calf and bake unleavened bread for a treat, so that the hearts of the travelers would be strengthened. The angels predicted to Abraham and Sarah the miraculous, contrary to nature, birth of their son Isaac, from whom the Lord would produce the people of Israel. Here an extraordinary event occurred, corresponding to the importance of what was happening - under the guise of wandering angels, the Trinity Deity itself appeared to Abraham.

This plot acquired special significance for the Christian Church after the adoption of the dogma of the trinity of the Divine at the Second Ecumenical Council (381) and became one of the most key in iconography. “The image of the Old Testament Trinity began to be viewed as a demonstration of the unity of the three Persons, equivalence and consubstantiality, and at the same time the difference of their hypostases. In the New Testament tradition, Abraham's meal is a prototype of the future atoning sacrifice and Eucharistic meal. Therefore, the appearance of three Angels to Abraham and their eating of the lamb... is perceived in the context of the cosmic economy of the Lord and the eternal council of the Trinity about the destinies of the world and humanity.”

The mystery of the Holy Trinity is impossible for man to comprehend. You can only imagine it abstractly, by analogy with what is familiar and understandable, or figuratively through an image. One equals three - this is how this mystery can be expressed “mathematically”. The unity of thought, word and spirit, filling thought, word and action - this is how the properties inherent in the Holy Trinity are manifested in the human personality. The Eternal Council of the Holy Trinity is expressed most graphically and dogmatically in Andrei Rublev’s “Trinity” icon, which will be discussed.

Everything in it is transcendental and everything is spiritual. It is no coincidence that everyday details of the plot are omitted. Sarah and Abraham are removed from the boundaries of the image, and the few details that compositionally fill the space of the icon make the image symbolically significant and unusually accurate. This allows us to focus on the most essential thing, which determines the theological thought about the future transformation of every creature and the universe on the basis of unity and harmony. The composition and the depicted details on the icon have an applied, descriptive meaning and at the same time contain a deep spiritual meaning.

Composition

The compositional center of the icon is a bowl with the head of a sacrificial lamb, standing in the center of the table. In the light of the Gospel, it symbolizes the Eucharistic cup with the New Testament Lamb - Christ. Table means altar, i.e. Golgotha, and at the same time the throne, i.e. Holy Sepulcher It is no coincidence that the cup is compositionally associated with the central Angel (the Son), dressed in the clothes of Christ, blessing the cup and obediently accepting the will of the Father (the left Angel). It is interesting that the spatial shape around the figure of the central Angel, formed by the silhouettes of two other Angels on either side of it, is also read as the silhouette of a bowl, which once again indicates the special significance of the hypostasis of the central Angel - only Christ can be compositionally located inside the chalice-bowl. The gaze from the center, bypassing the silhouettes of the figures, smoothly slides in a circle, starting from the central Angel up, then clockwise down, then up again - stopping at the left Angel. The left Angel-Father blesses the sacrificial bowl with his right hand, looking at the Angels facing him, and directs our gaze again to the center, to the bowl. “The gesture of the right Angel (the Holy Spirit) completes the symbolic conversation between the Father and the Son, affirming the high meaning of sacrificial love, and comforts the Son doomed to sacrifice.” The compositional circle in which the image is naturally inscribed symbolically emphasizes the cosmological significance of the plot. The circle symbolizes Eternity and the Universe; it is the initial form formed from the movement of a point around the geometric center. Around the compositional and semantic center of the icon - the sacrificial bowl!

Symbolism of descriptive details

The staffage elements of the composition have an illustrative value in describing the place of the event: “And the Lord appeared to him (Abraham) at the oak grove of Mamre, when he was sitting at the entrance to the tent during the heat of the day” (i.e., next to the house in the shade of an oak tree growing nearby). Therefore, these elements are tree, house and rock (as an indication of a deserted place).

Symbolically, these elements reveal their semantic content in the light of the purpose and purpose of divine-human co-creation in the world created by God. The chambers are an image of the economy of the Lord. The tree is the tree of eternal life, bestowed by the Holy Spirit through the sacrifice of the cross. It is no coincidence that it is located to the left of the right Angel - the Holy Spirit and behind the back of the central Angel-Son, born into the world and crucified in it on a tree. The rock is an image of spiritual ascent and Calvary. It is also interesting that the staffs that the Angels hold in their hands will be left to Abraham and a tree will grow from them (thanks to Lot, who watered them with water from the Jordan). This tree will be rejected during the construction of the First Temple, but will be useful for making the cross on which our Lord Jesus Christ will be crucified.

Symbolism of color

The main meaning of the color scheme of the icon is the “favorite” luminosity, “...because... the contemplated Deity was a picture of the heavenly heavenly world, the icon painter, with the help of paints, sought to convey the sublime “heavenly” beauty that was revealed to the earthly gaze... The symbolism of the color in the icon is especially noticeable in the leading sound of blue-blue, called “Rublevsky cabbage roll”. Blue, along with maroon, has always been the color of the Mother of God.

I would like to note that the absence of Abraham and Sarah in the icon only means, as was already said above, their removal from the boundaries of the image, that is, their invisible presence in the plot remains hidden. Everyone standing in front of the icon stands in the place of the Old Testament forefathers and makes them visible to our sensual eyes! This makes us involuntarily think about what we bring to the Divine who has appeared to us, do we correspond to the forefathers and to Him spiritually? Whether our offering will be cold indifference and enmity towards God or love and mercy, conquering “the fear of the hateful strife of this world”, are we ultimately able, following the forefather Abraham, to sacrifice at least a little for God, for our neighbor or for the visitor? us alien?

Prepared by V. Anshon