authority, the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she is to be the
Mother of God. She responds with a simple gesture conveying both
astonishment and acceptance. The gestures and attitudes of the fig-
ures are again conventional, as are the highly simplified architec-
tural props. The painter rendered the latter in inconsistent perspec-
tive derived from classical prototypes, but set the sturdy three-
dimensional forms against an otherworldly gold sky, suggesting the
sacred space in which the narrative unfolds. This icon also exempli-
fies the eclecticism that characterizes Byzantine art throughout its
long history.
ANDREI RUBLYEVIn Russia, icon painting flourished for
centuries, extending the life of the Byzantine painting style well be-
yond the collapse of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. Russian paint-
ings usually had strong patterns, firm lines, and intense contrasting
colors. All served to heighten the legibility of the icons in the waver-
ing candlelight and clouds of incense that worshipers encountered
in church interiors. For many art historians, Russian painting
reached a climax in the work ofAndrei Rublyev(ca. 1370–1430).
His nearly five-foot-tall panel (FIG. 12-33) depicting the three Old
Testament angels who appeared to Abraham is a work of great spiri-
tual power. It is also an unsurpassed example of subtle line in union
with intensely vivid color. The angels sit about a table, each framed
with a halo and sweeping wings, three nearly identical figures distin-
guished only by their garment colors. The light linear play of the
draperies sets off the tranquil demeanor of the figures. Color defines
the forms and becomes more intense by the juxtaposition of com-
plementary hues. The intense blue and green folds of the central fig-
ure’s cloak, for example, stand out starkly against the deep-red robe
and the gilded orange of the wings. In the figure on the left, the high-
lights of the orange cloak are an opalescent blue green. The unmod-
ulated saturation, brilliance, and purity of the color harmonies are
the hallmark of Rublyev’s style.
THE THIRD ROMEWith the fall of Constantinople in 1453,
Russia became Byzantium’s self-appointed heir, defending Christen-
dom against the infidel. The court of the tsar (the title derives from
“Caesar”) declared: “Because the Old Rome has fallen, and because
the Second Rome, which is Constantinople, is now in the hands of
the godless Turks, thy kingdom, O pious Tsar, is the Third Rome....
Two Romes have fallen, but the Third stands, and there shall be no
more.”^8 Rome, Byzantium, Russia—Old Rome, New Rome, and
Third Rome—were a continuum, spanning two and a half millennia
during which artists and architects produced many of the most sig-
nificant paintings, sculptures, and buildings in the long history of
art through the ages.338 Chapter 12 BYZANTIUM12-33Andrei Rublyev,Three angels (Old
Testament Trinity), ca. 1410. Tempera on wood,
4 8 3 9 . Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
This exceptionally large icon, which features
subtle lines and intensely vivid colors, is one of
the masterworks of Russian painting. It depicts
the three angels who appeared to Abraham,
prefiguring the Trinity.
1 ft.12-33ALarge
sakkos of
Photius,
ca. 1417.