Name/Title
Old Testament Holy Trinity, TheEntry/Object ID
2005.02.056Description
Tempera on curved wooden panel with orange and yellow border before the lowered central image. There is a orange Cyrillic caption at the top. In the central image, three winged figures are seated at a white table with a single gold goblet between them. Each holds a red rod , had gold wings, and has curly brown hair secured with a blue headband. The one on the left has sky blue and pink robes, the one in the middle has dark blue and deep red robes, and the one on the right is clothed in blue and green. In the background is a single grey building and a green tree.Type of Painting
PanelCollection
Betsy Scheuring Icon CollectionAcquisition
Accession
2005.02Source or Donor
Betsy ScheuringAcquisition Method
GiftCredit Line
Gift of Betsy ScheuringLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
IconNomenclature Primary Object Term
Symbol, ReligiousNomenclature Sub-Class
Religious ObjectsNomenclature Class
Ceremonial ObjectsNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsDimensions
Height
12-1/4 inWidth
9-1/8 inDepth
1-1/8 inExhibition
Spirit Made Tangible: The Scheuring Icon Collection (2006)Interpretative Labels
Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
"The scene depicted is the “Hospitality of Abraham,” referring to the Old Testament episode in which Abraham and his wife Sarah are visited by three angels (see 2005.02.029). However, this icon (done in a strictly eastern fashion) omits Abraham, Sarah, and their servant from the scene. Although the three angels usually are not distinguished from each other, they are sometimes interpreted as Christ in the center (with the tree behind him signifying the Cross), God at the left (with the building behind representing the church), and the Holy Spirit on the right (with the hill in the background understood as a symbol of spiritual ascent). This particular icon recalls earlier examples of the Holy Trinity showing the central angel with the crossed halo of Christ, a practice that was temporarily banned by the Stroglav Council in the 16th century.
The present work is a copy of a famous Old Testament “Holy Trinity” painted by Andrei Rublev in the 15th century, which became a model for many subsequent images. "