icons

[Ralph Cleminson]

>     Also, in the Rublev icon of the Trinity, what is the front panel
> with the "window" in it? And what are the angels' feet resting on?
> Thanks! Emily Tall

The "front panel" is simply the front of the table around which they
are sitting, and the "window" is not an essential element, though it
does occur quite frequently in icons of this time.  It may be a
reduction of the decoration with which the table is adorned in other
representations, or it may simply be an aperture in the side of the
table for use as a handle in carrying it.  There seems to be a degree
of freedom in the representation of this item of furniture: sometimes
it has solid sides, as here, sometimes it just has legs and is open
underneath, sometimes it is covered with a cloth, sometimes not. Its
shape can also vary.  The angels' feet are resting on rectangular
footstools.

And a further item for your bibliography: there is an excellent
selection of articles on this icon by the foremost Russian art
historians compiled by G.I.Vzdornov and published under the title
Troica Andreja Rubleva: Antologija, Moscow: Iskusstvo, 1981.


R.M.Cleminson,
Professor of Slavonic Studies,
University of Portsmouth,
Park Building,
King Henry I Street,
Portsmouth PO1 2DZ
tel. +44 23 92 846143, fax: +44 23 92 846040

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