The Doctrine of the Holy Trinity in the Culture and Art of Ancient Russia

Abstract

The conception of the Trinity has been one of the most wonderful achievements of Christian theological and philosophical thought. It is based on earlier conceptions of Trinitarian being and thought. The theme of the Trinity has been one of the most important concepts in Medieval Russia since the XIVth century. This is especially manifest in the “monk’s cause” of Sergei Radonersky and in the icon art of Andrei Rublev. In the famous icon of Andrei Rublev, theological, philosophical and aesthetic principles have been genuinely united. The Trinity concept is connected with the ideas of man as three parts (spirit, soul and body), the doctrine of Moscow as the Third Rome, and other ideas of Medieval Russia which have found their reflection in various phenomena of culture, both verbal and nonverbal.