Rublev's Trinity

Russian artist, Andrei Rublev c. 1360-1430

The story of this icon comes from Genesis 18:

The LORD appeared to Abraham by the terebinth of Mamre, as he sat in the entrance of his tent, while the day was growing hot. Looking up, he saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them; and bowing to the ground, he said: “Sir, if I may ask you this favor, please do not go on past your servant. Let some water be brought, that you may bathe your feet, and then rest yourselves under the tree. Now that you have come this close to your servant, let me bring you a little food, that you may refresh yourselves; and afterward you may go on your way.” “Very well,” they replied, “do as you have said.” Abraham hastened into the tent and told Sarah, “Quick, three seahs of fine flour! Knead it and make rolls.” He ran to the herd, picked out a tender, choice steer, and gave it to a servant, who quickly prepared it. Then he got some curds and milk, as well as the steer that had been prepared, and set these before them; and he waited on them under the tree while they ate.


"Where is your wife Sarah?" they asked him. "There in the tent," he replied. One of them said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will then have a son." Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, just behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years, and Sarah had stopped having her womanly periods. So Sarah laughed to herself and said, "Now that I am so withered and my husband is so old, am I still to have sexual pleasure?" But the LORD said to Abraham: "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Shall I really bear a child, old as I am?' Is anything too marvelous for the LORD to do? At the appointed time, about this time next year, I will return to you, and Sarah will have a son." -- (Genesis 18:01-14)

Traditionally from this story the three men are depicted as angels and seen to represent the Trinity.  Though they are three they are referred to in the passage as ‘The Lord’ – foreshadowing the unity of the Trinity.  In the background, one can see the terebinth.

Notice how they are all inclined, one towards the other – their eyes are all joined.  They are seated circular, representing the eternity of God.  It also shows the fact that there is not hierarchy in the Trinity.

They are identical, aside from cloths, again showing the unity of the three person of the godhead.  There is one nature, one will, one love, in three persons.

They appear neither male nor female, as God is spirit and has no gender (aside from Christ who is both God and Man).

There is an atmosphere shown in the icon of love, freedom, timelessness, rest, and the most intimate communion. 

The Chalice in the center also depicts not only the meal from the historical event, but represents the Eucharist, which appears to rest on an altar.  The Trinity surrounding the Chalice reminds us of the presence of all three Persons at the Eucharistic table.

Different Colors represent different things for each Person of the Trinity:

• On the right, the Holy Spirit has a garment of the clear blue of the sky, wrapped over with a robe of a fragile green. So the Spirit of creation moves in sky and water, breathes in heaven and earth. All living things owe their freshness to his touch.
• The Son has the deepest colors; a thick heavy garment of the reddish-brown of earth and a cloak of the blue of heaven. In his person he unites heaven and earth, the two natures are present in him, and over his right shoulder (the Government shall be upon his shoulder) there is a band of gold shot through the earthly garment, as his divinity suffuses and transfigures his earthly being.  He is holding his/her fingers in the traditional position of blessing — Christ is blessing the viewer.
• The Father seems to wear all the colors in a kind of fabric that changes with the light, that seems transparent, that cannot be described or confined in words. And this is how it should be. No one has seen the Father, but the vision of him fills the universe.

The table has four sides, with only three filled. The viewer is being invited to join the meal. The Trinity is a community of Love into which the believer is invited to enter.  The icon communicates to the viewer that the basis of the divine life is hospitality. When Jesus sends out the twelve he instructs them to enter whatever house will have them, heal their sick, eat what is set before them, and proclaim that the Reign of God has arrived at that house. Rublev’s icon proclaims the same message: the Reign of God arrives in hospitality.

The icon invites its observers (you and me) to take our place at the table with Father, Christ, and Spirit. There is a space spare, and its shape is a chalice filled with Jesus.