The “Trinity,” which was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church in 2023 and placed in the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, is kept in a special chamber designed to maintain the required climatic conditions, but the chamber broke down several months ago.
The outlet Echo reports this, citing informed sources.
According to a source, the icon is currently being kept at 80 percent humidity. In 2023, Tretyakov Gallery Director Yelena Pronicheva said that the “Trinity” should be kept at a temperature of 19 degrees Celsius and relative humidity of 50–55 percent.
A specialist from Germany was brought in to repair the chamber. He fixed it, but several hours after his departure it broke down again. According to the source, they cannot bring the specialist back because of “difficulties in international relations.”
Echo’s source notes that the chamber for the “Trinity” was designed specifically to operate in a museum environment, where a temperature of 19 degrees Celsius is already maintained, rather than in a church, where the chamber cannot continuously maintain the required climate “under extreme conditions.”
Back in 2022, the “Trinity” was displayed for several days at the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius to mark the 600th anniversary of the discovery of the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh. Even then, difficulties arose in maintaining the required conservation conditions. Portable air conditioners were installed in the cathedral to maintain the necessary conditions, affecting the iconostasis, and holes were also made in the cathedral walls.
“The iconostasis began behaving very badly, it started creaking, and the Tretyakov Gallery’s chief curator was informed about it. Everyone there was shocked, because this is a normal reaction for such objects. Since the 15th century, they had been accustomed to existing in the conditions of an active church, with candles burning and people breathing, with everything somehow existing naturally in that environment,” another Echo source, who also wished to remain anonymous, said.
The “Trinity” consists of three wooden panels. Two of them are stable, while the third is separating. Their condition has to be monitored constantly because if one of the panels moves too far away from the others, the painted surface begins to tear. If a panel presses too closely against the others, the icon comes under tension.
While the “Trinity” is being kept at the Lavra, the panels absorb moisture and swell as a result. The gaps between the panels are narrowing, and there is now almost no space left between them. As a result, the icon is beginning to warp and is effectively “curling up into a tube.” The government, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Culture Ministry have not responded to the situation.
As LF reported, the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow transferred jewels of its collection, the ancient Vladimir and Don icons of the Mother of God, to the Russian Orthodox Church. Religious affairs commentator Aleksandr Soldatov believes that the Russian Orthodox Church received these icons because of the military-patriotic associations they evoke.
While this article was being prepared for publication, information emerged that the icon had been returned to the Tretyakov Gallery.
