Rublev, Trinity

Description

The painting depicts the visit made by the Trinity to Abraham to promise him descendants. The icon presents this scene with three almost identical angels, seated around a table, symbolizing Father, Son and Holy Spirit from the left. However, as you can see, each angel wears a different colored garment. The one on the left has a blue robe, the color of the divine, and a purple robe that indicates the kingship of the Father. The second, in the center, wears the typical clothes of Jesus in traditional iconography: red symbolizing the humanity of Christ and blue recalling his divinity. The third angel, on the right, has a blue robe and a green mantle, indicating the earth and the mission of the renewal of the Holy Spirit. Green, in the Orthodox tradition, is also the liturgical color worn on Pentecost, the feast in which the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles is celebrated 50 days after the resurrection of Christ. The angels in the center and right of the icon have their heads tilted slightly to the left, to show that the Son and the Holy Spirit are from the Father. In the background you can see Abraham's house, an oak tree reminiscent of the tree of life in the Garden of Eden and the cross on which Christ, by dying, saved the world from Adam's sin.