icons

[Jerry Sabo]

I was told that the window at the front bottom of the table at which the Old
Testament angels/persons of the Trinity are sitting was the usual "window"
placed in a holy person's tomb to see whether they were decaying or not--if
not, they were truly holy like Christ who remained incorruptible and rose
from the dead.

Ralph Cleminson wrote:

> >     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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--
Gerald J. Sabo, S.J.
http://www1.jcu.edu/language/gsabo.htm
      gsabo at jcu.edu
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