Андре́й Рублёв

On this day, the birthday of my brother Andrew, the Church celebrates the feast of another Andrew: the fifteenth-century Russian iconographer Andrei Rublev.*

St Andrei was a monk from Holy Trinity Monastery near Moscow who is famous for having painted many beautiful icons including his most famous work, his ubiquitous iconographic representation of the Holy Trinity, picture above (click on it for a high-resolution image). In 1966, Russian filmakers filmed a biographical account of his life, which was banned by Soviet authorities unitl the 1970s. Read more about the film and view the trailer here: Tarkovsky's "Andrei Rublev"

St Andrei's Trinity icon has been called the "most perfect of all Russian icons and perhaps the most perfect of all the icons ever painted." John Sanidopoulos, author of the article cited above writes that

"The icon of the Holy Trinity is highly praised for its pure representation of Orthodox trinitarian theology. Rublev's genius comes in his presentation of the one Christian God in three hypostases, or persons. The three hypostases of the Holy Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - are depicted as equal, yet unique. Rublev's perfect placement of the three persons allows for a feeling of union between the three, all acknowledging each other, while a symbol of the eucharist, the life they have given the world, rests on a table between them. Between them also exists space in which the viewer of the icon almost seems called to enter by the position of the three persons."

Click here for an explanation of the icon's symbolism.

For a further examination of the icon, see the article "The Spirituality of Andrei Rublev’s Icon of the Holy Trinity."

*He is also remembered on July 17/4.