RUSSIA Rublev’s Trinity returns home in the midst of war

The Moscow Art Museum has temporarily allowed the Orthodox Church to move the icon to the Lavra, where it originally stood. It is the first time since 1918: so far, all requests have been denied. A propaganda tool to feed the myth of the Russian “victory” in Ukraine.

Moscow () – The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow’s main art museum, has temporarily allowed the Orthodox Church to take Andrei Rublev’s icon of the Holy Trinity. This work of art, perhaps the most important in the entire history of Russia, will be exhibited during the celebrations of the 600th anniversary of the transfer of the relics of Saint Sergius of Radonež, in the Lavra (monastery) dedicated to the Trinity located 70 km from Moscow. It is the most symbolic monastery in the whole country, which remained open even during the Soviet period, when it was called “Stalin’s Vatican”. The transfer has already taken place.

The icon was painted in the first half of the 15th century by Rublev, a monk and disciple of Sergius, precisely for the veneration of the great monastery, where it shone above the entrance to the building. It represents the scene from the Book of Genesis of the three pilgrims who visit Abraham at the Mambré oak, the only biblical theme that the Eastern Church admits as a representation of the Trinitarian communion. On the exclusive importance of this image, the Russian Church held great debates for centuries, and in the Council of the Hundred Chapters of 1552 consecrated the icon as the most precious symbol of the Orthodox faith.

On the other hand, it should be remembered that Saint Sergius is the saint who refounded Christian Russia after two centuries of Tatar invasion. It was he who inspired the victory of the Russian armies of Prince Dimitri of Moscow against the Mongols on the banks of the Don, and therefore he was called “Donskoj”. The remains of the saint rest in a church within the Lavra, and are the main destination of Russian pilgrimages in the affirmation of the true faith along with national identity. For this reason, the holiday acquires a special symbolic meaning in the context of the war in Ukraine, in which Russia intends to reaffirm the founding principles of its history.

The Moscow Patriarchate tried several times to obtain the icon from the Gallery, but until now it had always met with a resounding refusal due to the difficulty involved in transporting and exhibiting such an old and fragile art object. Icon rooms were constantly closed in Soviet times, except for some foreign delegations, and now they have become not only a place to admire art, but also a place of true devotion, since icons are closely related objects. to the celebration of the Orthodox liturgy. The other, very famous, icon of Our Lady of Vladimir, was removed from the room to be placed in a special chapel in the museum courtyard, so that whoever wishes to contemplate it must also prostrate, in an act of prayerful acknowledgment of its ecclesial dimension. .

All art critics and restorers rebel against the move decision, which could cause irreparable damage to the icon. Transportation and its exposure in a church do not allow maintaining the proper temperature and humidity regime, essential for the conservation of the “Trinity” icon. The work remained in the Lavra monastery until 1918, and was saved from destruction thanks to the work of knowledgeable and dedicated men. Such was the case of the famous theologian and priest Pavel Florensky: he chose to stay in Soviet Russia, even obtaining the position of Superintendent of Fine Arts, precisely to save the Lavra monastery and its treasures. He later died as a martyr after being imprisoned in the Solovki concentration camp.

The permission for the transfer of the work comes from the Ministry of Culture, by direct inspiration of President Putin, to gather around the sacred image the people engaged in the great war to restore all the dimensions of their identity as a people and as a Church. . In Yeltsin’s time there was also talk of returning the icon to the Church, but it was a prestigious academic, Valentin Janin, who convinced the then president not to endanger it.

This year, the petition had been presented in June on the occasion of the liturgical feast of the Holy Trinity, but was met with a new rejection. Now, after new calls for mobilization to crush the adversaries, the three persons of the divine Trinity are also enlisting in the Russian war, and art and science submit to the higher needs of Victory.