Andrey Rublev (or Rublyov – nobody is sure how his name was pronounced) has been described as “the greatest Russian artist who ever lived”, whose work had “a clarity of composition and suave tranquillity of mood peculiarly his own”.
In May 2023, it was announced that under Putin, one of Rublev’s most famous works was to be removed from its restoration team and donated to the Russian Orthodox Church. This has prompted concerns about the conservation of his work.
My new book Andrey Rublev: The Artist and His World is an overview of the master medieval Russian painter. Rublev, active around 1400 in and near Moscow, was a monk and painter of icons, frescoes and (possibly) manuscripts in the tradition of the Orthodox Church.
He was highly regarded in his lifetime and for at least a century thereafter. He is mentioned in the proceedings of the Council of the 100 Chapters in 1551 (a major council ordering the practices of the Russian Church) and in Tale of the Holy Icon Painters in the 17th century.
