From 1929 until now, the icon has been in the State Tretyakov Gallery. Photo: Artem Geodakyan/TASS
How it all started
On May 15 this year, a decision was made hand over the icon of Andrey Rublev “Trinity” Russian Orthodox Church. From 1929 until now, she has been in the State Tretyakov Gallery. But now, on the feast of the Trinity, they decided to exhibit it in the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and then transfer it to the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra for storage, where it was before the revolution.
This decision caused heated debate. Experts have recently stated that “Trinity” can not be exhibited anywhereexcept for a museum: it is so ancient and fragile that, like many ancient masterpieces, it can suffer simply from human breath in a crowded temple.
On June 23, it was reported that the experts of the Tretyakov Gallery, following the meeting, came to the conclusion that the Trinity could not leave the museum premises. However, now it has become known that everything is going according to plan: on June 4, the icon will be taken to the temple, where it will spend two weeks. And after that it was returned for restoration to the State Tretyakov Gallery.
How “Trinity” will be stored
Archpriest Leonid Kalinin, head of the expert council of the Moscow Patriarchate on church art, architecture and restoration, recently told Interfax: “The conditions for storage must be provided for it anywhere – even in the Tretyakov Gallery, even in the Trinity Cathedral of the Lavra, and it’s not the place that matters here, and the quality of the capsule in which the icon will be placed.” Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that “a scheme has been agreed upon” according to which the icon will be transported to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in compliance with all safety conditions.
But it is clear that production of a special capsule, which will allow the icon to be kept in temples, will take a long time. And the restoration itself, which will begin after the transfer of the icon to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and back, apparently, will be extremely long.
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