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Staff • The Rublev Icon
Rublev's Icon of the Holy Trinity, cont.
A circle, symbol of perfection and eternity, is created by the figures, with a sense of a slow counterclockwise movement. There is also a triangle. Icons use inverted perspective rather than a vanishing perspective, so the figures seem to move close, showing that God is here and everywhere.
In front of them is an altar on which stands a gold chalice with a miniature blood-red lamb in it, symbolizing the sacrificial death of Christ. There is an extra place at the table, in front of them, an open place for a guest. Which figure represents the Father, which the Son, which the Spirit? There has been much debate on the question, but I'm not sure that it really matters. What matters is that the single word most often used to describe this icon is “love”, and we are invited into this open place, into this conversation of love, into communion with the Holy Trinity.
Every year on the feast of the Trinity, it is placed in the center of the church around the world. It is also often there for the feast of Pentecost. Jesus' first followers, all Jews, had known God the Father, the Creator, from their childhood. In Jesus Christ the Savior, they came to know God the Son. At Pentecost, they received the empowering gift of the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of Life, intangible yet present everywhere.
