RUBLYOV, Andrey - b. ~1360 ?, d. 1430 Moscow - WGA

RUBLYOV, Andrey

(b. ~1360 ?, d. 1430 Moscow)

Andrey Rublyov (Andrei Rublev) Russian painter and monk. All his known works and those attributed to him were undertaken in Moscow and in towns and monasteries near by; he may therefore be described as a representative of the Moscow school of painting, but his work had a profound influence on the development of Russian art in general.

There is little secure knowledge of his life or works. In 1405 he worked as assistant to Theophanes the Greek in the Cathedral of the Annunciation in the Kremlin in Moscow, but it has not been possible to distinguish his share there or in the Cathedral of the Dormition at Vladimir where he is also said to have painted murals. The work that stands at the centre of his oeuvre is the celebrated icon of the Old Testament Trinity (that is the three angels appeared to Abraham) in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. In its gentle lyrical beauty this marks a move away from the hieratic Byzantine tradition, and other icons in similar style have been attributed to Rublyov.

Annunciation

There is little information about Rublyov’s life. The first mention of the painter is in 1405 when he decorated icons and frescos for the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Moscow Kremlin in company with Theophanes the Greek.

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Deesis Range: The Apostle Paul

The iconostasis is the elaborately painted wall of icons that separates the Holy Apse from the main nave of an Orthodox church. It has a varying number of tiers. In Byzantine art, the Deesis is a traditional iconic representation of Christ in Majesty enthroned, carrying a book, and flanked by the Virgin Mary and St John the Baptist, and sometimes other saints and angels. The Deesis was often placed above the Holy Door of the iconostasis

The picture shows the right icon from the Deesis Range in Zvenigorod.

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Deesis Range: The Archangel Michael

The picture shows the left icon from the Deesis Range in Zvenigorod.

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Deesis Range: The Saviour

The picture shows the central icon from the Deesis Range in Zvenigorod.

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Holy Trinity

Rublyov is regarded as the greatest Russian icon-painter of all, and his icon of the Holy Trinity, painted for the Sergey-Trinity monastery, is the most famous of all Russian icons. This icon is a masterpiece of ancient Russian iconography, and the Church established it as the model for depicting the Trinity.

In Rublyov’s icon, the persons of the Holy Trinity are shown in the order in which they are confessed in the Credo. The first angel is the first person of the Trinity - God the Father; the second, middle angel is God the Son; the third angel is God the Holy Spirit. All three angels are blessing the chalice, in which lies a sacrificed calf, prepared for eating. The sacrifice of the calf signifies the Saviour’s death on the cross, while its preparation as food symbolizes the sacrament of the Eucharist. All three angels have staffs in their hand as a symbol of their divine power.

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