ABSTRACT

Andrey Rublev’s (1350–1425) icon of the Holy Trinity (Fig. 5.1) is very probably not only the best known, but also the most revered Russian image. The images painted by Rublev’s hand were officially declared prototypes to be followed by iconographers by the Moscow Council of the Hundred Chapters (1551). They were believed to have miraculous powers, while Rublev himself, ever since his death has been widely considered a saint, 1 even though he was officially canonized by the Russian Church only in 1988. Even during the period of early Soviet iconoclasm, Rublev’s works retained their exclusive status and were included in Lenin’s list of monuments worthy of preservation (in the 1918 edict ‘On Monumental Propaganda’).