Putin gives the Russian Orthodox Church Rublev. What is known about this and why restorers and art historians are opposed to

The most famous work of Russian icon painting, the “trinity” of Andrei Rublev, by decision of Putin, is taken from the Tretyakov Gallery to convey it to the Russian Orthodox Church. As explained in the Kremlin, this is done because "for a large number of believers, this icon is a large shrine." This news found this news by surprise, and experts observing the state of the “Trinity” believe that the seizure of the icon will expose it to the risk of destruction. Mediazona tells how, despite the resistance of scientists and guardians, the Russian Orthodox Church has achieved the receipt of the cultural monument.

On the afternoon of Monday, the Moscow Patriarchate announced the return of Andrei Rublev’s icon “Holy Trinity” in the Russian Orthodox Church. The report on the Patriarchate’s website emphasized that President Vladimir Putin made the decision to convey a work of art, stored in the Tretyakov Gallery for almost a hundred years, “in response to numerous requests of the Orthodox believers.”

The news about the future seizure of the icon from the Tretyakov Gallery funds found her employees by surprise. They learned about the decision of Putin from media reports on the day when an expanded restoration council was held in the museum, at which the state of the icon was discussed. “While we are trying to understand what is happening at all, everything is in shock,” so one of his employees described the atmosphere in the Mediazona in a conversation with the Mediazone.

A day later, Patriarch Kirill gave a detailed comment about the situation around the “Trinity” of Rublev. At a meeting of the Holy Synod, the Patriarch said that he sent only the “modest wish” to the head of the presidential administration to Anton Vaino about to expose the icon, which the Orthodox considered miraculous for two weeks, for the worship of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow in honor of the festival of the Trinity, celebrated this year on June 4.

“In response to this, as you know, the President of the Russian Federation made a historical decision on the return of the icon of the Holy Trinity of the Russian Orthodox Church. We could only dream that this shrine is returned to the Church, so that our people could pray in front of this shrine, asking for the blessing of God both to the country and the church, ”said Cyril.

As the journalist and art critic Ksenia Korobeinikova writes in his telegram channel, the Ministry of Culture (with the exception of one person, the journalist does not call his name, but claims that this is not a minister) and the Tretyakov Gallery did not know anything about the possible transmission of the Trinity.

“Everyone was sure that they would have to give the icon for the second time for the holiday in Lavra for a couple of days, not for good. And it is understandable. Even according to the law, works from the State Museum Fund cannot cease to be museum property. There is only a submarine act "On the Procedure for Transfer to Religious Organizations", but museum things can be transferred to anyone, including the Church, only on the basis of a bilateral treaty, ”Korobeinikova writes.

Last summer, the icon of Rublev, despite the protests of restorers and art historians, was still taken to Sergiev Posad, where she was exhibited in the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in honor of the 600th anniversary of the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh.

“Trinity” somehow survived the trip. We, ten employees of the museum, were on duty for three days in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra around the clock. It was monstrous! We stood with instruments and tracked changes in temperature and humidity. One night, 40 wet people came running, they had some kind of marathon-they hit the rain. And there is a small space, moisture instantly changed from their wet clothes. We overlapped the temple, ” said Elena Saenkova, head of the department of ancient Russian art of the Tretyakov Gallery.

According to her, in Sergiev Posad the Trinity was exhibited in an ordinary window, while this required a special one, which would support the necessary climatic parameters. After returning to a fragile icon, for storage of which a special temperature and certain humidity is required, 61 “significant changes” were found .

As experts noted, it was only “part of the process of negative changes in the state of safety” of the work of art. In the laurel, where a monument of icon painting was exhibited, there were simply no necessary climatic conditions; The icon survived sharp temperature differences, and five sites on it turned out to be “emergency and need to strengthen,” restorers pointed out then.

After that, the Trinity was stored for some time in the depository of the gallery, and when its condition was stabilized, it began to show it again to the general public, a Moscow restorer familiar with the situation told Mediazone. “We have completed the necessary procedures to stabilize the state of safety. They did everything that was needed in order to prevent some bad trends, ”the interlocutor added.

In addition, the Trinity since 1998 has been available not only for the secular public, but also for believers. The icon is annually transferred on the hands in a special frame along the interior of the gallery in the temple-museum of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi during the celebration of the Holy Trinity. “But there were never historically any crowds, no queues of those who wanted to pray,” says a source in the museum.

The interlocutor of the Mediazones is perplexed why, when deciding on the issue of seizing the icon, they refer precisely to the Orthodox flock, although it never particularly showed great interest in the “Trinity”.

The Kremlin is considered different. “For a large number of believers, this icon is a large shrine. To cover it in the museum’s funds does not quite correspond to the aspirations of believers, ” said Dmitry Peskov, adding that before making a decision on the transfer of Trinity to the ROC, the president consulted with specialists.

It is planned that during 2023 the icon will be exhibited in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, after which it will be sent to the “historical place” in the Holy Trinity Sergiev Lavra in the Sergiev Posad near Moscow.

The Ministry of Culture added that the icon of Rublev "will be moved with the participation of experts in strict accordance with the requirements of security." They promise to store it in a special capsule, which maintains humidity and temperature. However, according to the experience of last year’s Trinity tour, Sergiev Posad, museum employees are afraid that the situation may be repeated. And the removal of the monument of culture from the Tretyakov Gallery will even become fatal for the icon.

“As a result of these ill -conceived actions, the icon will die. This is the only result. Just die. And they will show you a dummy, ” said the doctor of art history, Lev Livshits, who is part of an expanded restoration council at the Tretyakov Gallery.

At the Council itself, held the day before, experts came to the conclusion that you can save the icon only under the supervision of experts and restorers, and its transfer, even temporary, is impossible. “This is the same as Catholics would ask the Hermitage to return Madonna Littu Leonardo to them. But Madonna Litta is available to everyone, regardless of religious views. The Trinity is also much larger than just the subject of religious worship. This is already a symbol, ”the source of museums in the circles of the capital argues in an interview with the Mediazone.

In addition, one of the employees of the Tretyakov Gallery says, conditions were created in the gallery for access to the icon of croopy students, restorers, artists and researchers. When they begin to expose the icon in the temple and the laurel, this is unlikely to be possible.

“What will happen next is incomprehensible. This was not in my memory before. For the entire museum community and various museums, our colleagues from other museums - they were all dumbfounded by this and are very surprised how quickly it all decided, ”one of the Moscow restorers told Mediazone.

According to the director of the museum Andrei Rublev, Mikhail Mindlin, to preserve the Trinity, you need a capsule vitrine with special equipment for the uninterrupted maintenance of the temperature and humidity regime that has yet to be manufactured. “This is like ensuring the safety of the nuclear reactor - in case of disconnecting the electricity, backup systems are included. The same regime that was supported in the Tretyakov Gallery in recent decades, ”Mindlin said in an interview with Moscow Komsomolets. - And this capsule should be anti -vandal, protecting from any intentional or unintentional damage. The icon should be flawlessly protected in every sense. ”

The restorer, close to the Tretyakov Gallery, adds that the safety of the “Trinity” will depend on how the transmission of the icon is implemented, and what exactly the Russian Orthodox Church will take to preserve the monument: “We do not know how this procedure will take place. We do not know anything. We do not know how they intend to place it. Therefore, nothing can be said for sure. That is, it can be from well, conditionally - nothing will happen, before - everything will happen. ”

Editor: Dmitry Treshchin