The icon “Trinity” of St. Andrei Rublev and the shrine of Prince Alexander Nevsky, transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church, will be kept in accordance with the requirements of the specialists of the Tretyakov Gallery and the Hermitage, assured the chairman of the Patriarchal Council for Culture, Metropolitan of Pskov and Porkhov Tikhon (Shevkunov). It is reported by TASS.
“They will be stored according to the requirements that the Hermitage and the Tretyakov Gallery will present to us,” promised Metropolitan Tikhon.
Director of the Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky said the day before that, according to an agreement concluded between the museum and the St. Petersburg diocese, the church must “recreate those unique air conditions that were created by great work in the Hermitage,” without which “the fragile tomb will perish.”
“For a hundred years, the Hermitage has preserved and four times saved the tomb and shrine of St. Alexander Nevsky from destruction. Today, this responsibility is transferred to the Church for 49 years,” he said.
In case of violation of the storage conditions, the museum may unilaterally terminate the contract.
On May 10, the Hermitage and the Holy Trinity Alexander Nevsky Lavra signed an agreement on the transfer of the shrine of Alexander Nevsky to the Russian Orthodox Church for gratuitous use for 49 years, the period can be extended. The document was approved by the Ministry of Culture and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’. The main part of the shrine is going to be handed over by December 1 of this year, the rest after the completion of the restoration by the Hermitage.
On May 15, the Patriarch’s press service reported that President Vladimir Putin had decided to return the Trinity icon painted by Andrei Rublev to the church from the Tretyakov Gallery “in response to numerous requests from Orthodox believers.”
First, the icon will be exhibited for veneration in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior for a year, then it will be transferred to the Trinity Cathedral of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra.
Source: Rosbalt
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