Moscow City Duma deputy from the Communist Party Pavel Tarasov appealed to the Ministry of Culture and the presidential administration (AP) with a request not to transfer the icon of Andrei Rublev "Trinity" for permanent storage to the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), and leave it in the Tretyakov Gallery. This is reported by the Telegram channel of Ksenia Sobchak "Bloody Lady". Earlier, art historian, byzantologist, academician of the Russian Academy of Arts (RAH) Alexei Lidov told The Insider that even the transportation of the Trinity threatens with irreparable consequences.
The deputy sent letters in which, referring to the opinions of experts, he writes that the icon may be lost in case of improper storage. He also pointed out in his appeal that Russia is a multi-confessional country, and the icon is a common national treasure.
“The icon “Holy Trinity” by Andrey Rublev was created before the church schism, and, strictly speaking, it cannot be argued that it is a shrine only for the Russian Orthodox Church. The meaning of the icon has long outgrown the scope of the object of worship. It is the cultural heritage of all the inhabitants of the country, regardless of their nationality or religion.”
Muscovites and art historians are also collecting signatures against the transfer of the icon to the Russian Orthodox Church.
Putin instructed to transfer Andrei Rublev's "Trinity" to the Russian Orthodox Church earlier on May 15 "in response to numerous requests from Orthodox believers." By decision of Patriarch Kirill, the icon, which is now kept in the Tretyakov Gallery, will be exhibited for a year in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, and then transferred to the Trinity Cathedral of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra in the Moscow region. The Trinity, painted in the first half of the 15th century, was kept in the Lavra until 1929, when the Soviet authorities handed it over to the Tretyakov Gallery.