Holy Trinity
Megan Callaghan
ARTH 351W
Iconography Paper
11/9/12
Plurality in Andre Rublyov’s Old Testament Trinity
While difficult to understand and even more difficult to depict, one of the most complex and important concepts expressed in Christian art and ideology is the idea of the holy trinity. Artistic representations of the three persons of the holy trinity helped people make better sense of the divine mystery of Christ by expressing a complicated theological idea through the use of tangible and concrete visual symbols. Attempts to depict the holy trinity pose valuable questions about how to represent a concept that has long been considered impossible to entirely explain or represent. In many ways, Trinitarian iconology dictates how Christians interpret the figures of God, Christ and the Holy Ghost and their relationship to one another. More specifically, depictions of the holy trinity often emphasize either the plurality or singularity of the three trinitarian figures. A popular artistic example of the holy trinity can be found in medieval Russian artist Andrei Rublyov’s panel painting Old Testament Trinity created circa 1420. It is composed of tempera on wood and is 142 x 114 cm. The work currently resides in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow (museum #281) and is in fact in such poor condition that the museum has refused to loan or move the artwork from its location because of its extreme fragility (Hamburger, 150). The panel was repainted during the 17th century if not more recently (Temple, 64) but is nonetheless severely cracked in a number of places and its colors (especially in the background) have faded. While Rublyov’s painting also reflects the unified will and substance of the figures of the holy trinity, for the most part it remains faithful to Eastern Orthodox representations of the trinity by deliberately emphasizing the plurality of the figures as three separate individuals. The painting’s depiction of trinitarian imagery as simultaneously singular and
ARTH 351W
Iconography Paper
11/9/12
Plurality in Andre Rublyov’s Old Testament Trinity
While difficult to understand and even more difficult to depict, one of the most complex and important concepts expressed in Christian art and ideology is the idea of the holy trinity. Artistic representations of the three persons of the holy trinity helped people make better sense of the divine mystery of Christ by expressing a complicated theological idea through the use of tangible and concrete visual symbols. Attempts to depict the holy trinity pose valuable questions about how to represent a concept that has long been considered impossible to entirely explain or represent. In many ways, Trinitarian iconology dictates how Christians interpret the figures of God, Christ and the Holy Ghost and their relationship to one another. More specifically, depictions of the holy trinity often emphasize either the plurality or singularity of the three trinitarian figures. A popular artistic example of the holy trinity can be found in medieval Russian artist Andrei Rublyov’s panel painting Old Testament Trinity created circa 1420. It is composed of tempera on wood and is 142 x 114 cm. The work currently resides in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow (museum #281) and is in fact in such poor condition that the museum has refused to loan or move the artwork from its location because of its extreme fragility (Hamburger, 150). The panel was repainted during the 17th century if not more recently (Temple, 64) but is nonetheless severely cracked in a number of places and its colors (especially in the background) have faded. While Rublyov’s painting also reflects the unified will and substance of the figures of the holy trinity, for the most part it remains faithful to Eastern Orthodox representations of the trinity by deliberately emphasizing the plurality of the figures as three separate individuals. The painting’s depiction of trinitarian imagery as simultaneously singular and
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