medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I think this is what the Russian Icons depict as the Old Testament
Trinity,
> from the three visitors to Abraham before the destruction of Sodom &
> Gomorrah. God visits Abraham in this guise.
Close, perhaps, Tom, but in Byzantine representations of the Old
Testament Trinity, the three visitors are clearly depicted as
unbearded angels without cruciform halos, usually seated at a table
under the oak tree. There are many different ways to represent the
Trinity, particularly in Europe (Byzantine iconography tended to be
more conservative), where the Virgin Mary was sometimes associated
with the Trinity in a "Quaternity". In the present case, I wonder
whether the female figure has wings, in which case it would
represent, quite clearly if unusually, the Holy Spirit. Or
alternatively, if there is a dove fluttering about somewhere, in
which case, it would be a Marian Quaternity, in which, perhaps, the
artist has mistakenly given Mary a cruciform halo.
Cheers,
Jim Bugslag
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