The aged, gold-toned face of Christ from Andrei Rublev's Saviour icon from Zvenigorod, its paint worn and cracked. Artist

Andrei Rublev

Religious Art & Worldviews · Artists

The monk-iconographer whose Trinity became the measure of the Russian icon: stillness, humility, and gold held in perfect balance.

Tagged: Painting Medieval Devotional Iconic Iconography Eastern Orthodox

Rublev worked in the orbit of St Sergius of Radonezh, painting frescoes at Vladimir and icons for the Trinity Lavra his master founded. Almost nothing of his life is documented, and the church canonized him in 1988 on the strength of the work alone.

His Trinity — three angels at Abraham's table, composed in a slow circle — is reproduced as an art entry in this section. Its fame rests on restraint: no narrative clutter, no drama, only the mutual regard of the three figures.

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References

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