“Trinity” Rublev returned to the iconostasis of the cathedral in the lavra. Photo Photo

The icon “Holy Trinity”, written by Andrei Rublev in the XV century, was returned to the iconostasis of the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the correspondent of RBC was convinced. According to two RBC sources in the lavra and an interlocutor familiar with the movements of the icon, it was returned on Monday, October 5.

According to one of the interlocutors, the return of the icon is due to the fact that work with the climatic showcase in which it is contained has been completed.

RBC appealed for comment to the head of the legal department of the Moscow Patriarchate, Abbot Xenia Chernega, as well as to the Tretyakov Gallery.

The fact that the icon was removed from the iconostasis during the repair of the showcase became known in mid-September. Instead of the "Trinity" temporarily placed its printing copy. The original icon was temporarily placed in the restoration workshops of the laurels.

On September 13, the Moscow Patriarchate issued a statement in which it announced a “planned reconciliation of the state of preservation of the icon.”.

Art historian, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Arts Ksenia Korobeinikova said that at some point, the system that provides the necessary conditions for the icon, “a little bit began to fail,” because “it was not always used by people with knowledge of the matter, with experience.” According to her, the failure of the complex lasted two weeks. Director of Tretyakovka Olga Galaktionova reported that the icon was withdrawn due to the adjustment of the capsule.

The likely dates of the creation of the icon “Holy Trinity” are 1422-1427. Since 1929, the icon was kept in the Tretyakov Gallery. In 2023, the Russian Orthodox Church applied for the transfer of the icon to the Lavra (it was originally ordered by Andrei Rublev for the Trinity Cathedral of the Lavra). President Vladimir Putin made the corresponding decision, and in early 2024, on the eve of Christmas, the icon was first exhibited in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and then transported to Sergiev Posad.

Employees of the Tretyakov Gallery and representatives of the museum community objected to the issuance of the icon, pointing to its fragile state. In June 2026, Tretyakov reported that the first (and at that time the last) reconciliation of the state of preservation of the Trinity was carried out in the summer of 2025. Then experts identified “some changes in the state of preservation” of the monument. “Last summer, during a ten-day scheduled inspection, a set of studies was carried out, which gives an objective idea of the state of preservation of the object and will further monitor the dynamics of changes in the preservation of the icon,” the museum said.