Memorial Day of St. Andrei Rublev

On July 17, Orthodox Christians pay tribute to the memory of the Venerable icon painter Andrei Rublev Andrei Rublev is the most famous Russian icon painter He lived and worked in the 14th-15th centuries He was canonized only in 1988 for his virtue, asceticism and godly creativity Information about the life of the great master of icon painting is scanty, and his worldly name has not reached us According to some sources, the monk was born into the family of an artisan in the Moscow principality He is characterized as a very educated, wise and religious person Upon reaching a fairly mature age, the man took monastic vows at the Andronikov Monastery Rublev studied painting in Bulgaria and Byzantium Researchers suggest that he was a student of Theophanes the Greek Living in a monastic atmosphere of piety and love of God left an imprint on the nature of his work Also, his style was greatly influenced by the increased interest in Russian society in the moral beauty of man People, having united in the struggle to overthrow the yoke and advocated the unification of the country, began to take an interest in the heroic past of Rus' Rublev is mentioned several times in chronicles At first he is spoken of as a black assistant during the painting of the Annunciation Cathedral Three years later, records about him appear again, but as a famous painter painting the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir Finally, in the records of the 20s 15th century Rublev appears as the leader of the painted works in the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery His most famous work is the “Holy Trinity” icon, which is part of the iconostasis of the Trinity Cathedral After its discovery, researchers mistakenly assumed that its author was some Italian master This is due to the fact that in Rus' there have never been such skilled icon painters Three angels are written on the icon, two of which bless the cup with the head of a calf The icon shows the moment of the meeting between Abraham and the angels who announced to him the imminent appearance of his son Isaac Scholars agree that the humble angelic figures represent God the Son, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit The image of the Trinity has a symbolic meaning So the author wanted to show the depth and sacrifice of God’s love for man, without being distracted by the details and plot of the biblical event called “Abraham’s Hospitality” The great master died in 1428 during the plague At this time he worked on the frescoes of the Spassky Cathedral The painter was buried on the territory of the cathedral In honor of Andrei Rublev, sculptures were created, popular science and feature films were made, and a ballet was staged Streets in Ufa, Novosibirsk, Gorodets, Zvenigorod and Bryansk are also named in his honor A Martian crater and an Aeroflot plane are named after the great master On the day of remembrance of the saint, churches read a troparion, kontakion and prayer specially dedicated to this day