Sergiev Posad, Moscow Province, Russia, July 31, 2024
Photo: ria.ru
The highly venerated Rublev Trinity Icon has been returned to its historical place on the iconostasis of the Holy Trinity Cathedral at the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra outside Moscow.
After more than a century away, the Icon returned to the Lavra in time for the feast of Pentecost this year—an historical event for which an annual feast has already been established.
The Icon initially stood before the iconostasis on a large stand, but now has been placed into the iconostasis itself, in a specially prepared climate-controlled kiot, reports RIA-Novosti. The 15th-century Icon requires precise conditions to preserve its present state; art experts have warned about the danger of the Icon being damaged by removing it from the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, where it was kept for many decades.
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The 15th-century icon initially found its home on the iconostasis of the Holy Trinity Cathedral at the Lavra, founded by St. Sergius of Radonezh in the 14th century. However, when the godless authorities came to power in Russia, they removed the icon from the monastery. In 1929, after nine years in a museum in Zagorsk (Sergiev Posad), it was transferred to the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, where it remained until last year, except for a few days in July 2022 when the icon was taken to the Lavra for the 600th anniversary of the uncovering of the relics of St. Sergius.
The Icon was delivered to Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow in time for Pentecost 2023, after which it underwent professional restoration. It was then returned to Christ the Savior in January of this year.
And in June of this year, the Icon returned to its historical home, where it will now remain for good.
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