Deputy of the Moscow City Duma from the Communist Party Pavel Tarasov appealed to the administration of the President of Russia (PA), the Ministry of Culture and the Tretyakov Gallery with a request to explain on what grounds the icon “Holy Trinity” by Andrei Rublev was allowed to exhibit in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior (ХХС) in the same showcase in which a year ago in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, and accordingly received a large number of injuries. Copies of the letters are available to Russian media.
In July 2022, the “Holy Trinity” was exhibited for several days in the Trinity Sergius Lavra on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the discovery of the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh. In September, art historian Ksenia Korobeynikova, citing the minutes of a meeting of the expanded Restoration Council of the Tretyakov Gallery, said that after the picture was in the laurel, 61 “changes significant” were found on the icon, and five sections “are urgent”.
On May 15, 2023, the Moscow Patriarchate’s press service reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin, in response to “numerous requests from believers”, handed over the “Trinity” to the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) for its transfer to the cathedral. of Christ the Savior by June 4 for the Orthodox feast of the same name. Scholars have warned that the icon cannot be removed from the Tretyakov Gallery “due to its complex and unstable condition”. At the same time, the Russian leader’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov declared that the Kremlin did not receive conclusions about the unsatisfactory condition of the Trinity before Putin ordered its handover to the Russian Orthodox Church.
The requests sent to the three recipients are generally similar, however, in an appeal to the head of the presidential administration Anton Vaino, MP Tarasov notes that the decision to return the “Trinity” to the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) was taken by Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, the corresponding decree mentioned by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, has not yet been published.
“Does this document exist and where can I get acquainted with it? I ask you to provide a copy of the above document and inform me on the basis of what legal standards the decision to issue a museum exhibit was taken personally by the President of the Russian Federation, circumventing the existing regulations for such cases?” Parliamentarian in the administration of the Head of State.
In addition, the deputy of the Moscow City Duma drew attention to conflicting media reports about compliance with the requirements necessary for the preservation of the masterpiece. According to some publications, the showcase where the Trinity is placed in the CSU is not climatic, according to other sources, it was placed in a capsule in which all the necessary conditions are met, Tarasov noted.
“On published (in mass media ) it is clearly seen in the photographs that the showcase has neither devices inside to create a special regime of temperature and humidity inside, nor connection to the electrical network (through which these devices are supervised in many real climatic showcases), and the sensors located there can only register fluctuations in temperature and humidity, but deregulate them, ”said the deputy.
Furthermore, he noted that by comparing photographs of the XXC and the Lavra, “it becomes evident” that the cases in which the icon is displayed in churches this year and last year are identical.
“At the same time, it is known that last year’s showcase did not meet the basic requirements. In an internal document of the Tretyakov Gallery published on the Internet (a memorandum addressed to the deputy director of the museum RM Shigapov), it was stated that the showcase did not ensure “the maintenance of the necessary temperature and humidity conditions”, writes Tarasov.
He added that it was after the return of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra a year ago that “new damage was discovered on the icon, associated with its short stay in unsuitable conditions”. .
At the end of each of the letters addressed to the AP, the Ministry of Culture and the Tretyakov Gallery, a deputy of the Moscow City Duma asked to be informed on what motives the Russian Orthodox Church, a year after the first unsuccessful experience, had been authorized to withdraw the icon in restoration for a period seven times longer (14 days against two), in the same showcase, which has already led to consequences that do not allow the proper conservation of a unique cultural monument and relic for believers.
According specialists , the icon of the Holy Trinity was painted by Andrei Rublev between 1425 and 1427. Until 1917 it was in the Trinity Cathedral of Trinity-Sergius Lavra. In the XVI-XIX centuries, the icon was “renewed” several times, and at the beginning of the XX century the first attempt was made to remove all subsequent layers from it. In 1918, the restoration of the “Trinity” took place in the Sergievsky branch of the restoration workshop of the Commission for the Preservation and Disclosure of Monuments of Ancient Russian Art. Since 1929, the icon has been in the Tretyakov Gallery.
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