Commenting on the biblical account of the creation of man, the Church Fathers pay special attention to the words: And God said: Let us make man in Our image and after Our likeness (Gen. 1:26). When God created the sky, earth, stars, plants and animals, He did not consult with anyone. But before the story of the creation of man, the course of the biblical narrative suddenly seems to be interrupted, and the author reveals the secret of intra-Trinitarian relationships, for in the biblical “let us create,” patristic theology sees an unambiguous indication of the meeting of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity: “In the beginning,” says St. Basil the Great, “ at the creation of the world, we see that God converses with the Son and the Spirit... For to whom does he say “let us create” if not the Word and the Only Begotten Son, through whom, according to the word of the evangelist, all things began to be, and the Spirit, about whom it is written: Blow: of God , who created me?

The meeting of the Persons of the Holy Trinity before the creation of man in the Eastern Christian theological and liturgical tradition received the name “Eternal Council” (slav. “Eternal”). The Monk John of Damascus calls it the “Eternal and always unchanging Council” of God. Maximus the Confessor says: “The Great Council of God and the Father is the silent and unknown mystery of the economy. The Only Begotten Son revealed and fulfilled it through the incarnation, becoming the Messenger of the great and Eternal Council of God the Father.” One of the stichera of the Feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos begins with the words: “Revealing the Eternal Council to You, the Young Lady, Gabriel presented...” The message that the Mother of God received from the Angel was a consequence of the Divine decision made at the Eternal Council of the Holy Trinity - the decision that For the salvation and deification of man, God will become incarnate and Himself become man.

At the Eternal Council, they talked about the fate of man and what God’s response would be to man’s possible deviation from the will of God. Man is created in the image and likeness of God: this means that in his nature he will have the characteristic features of the Trinity God, will have properties that only God possesses to an absolute degree, including free will. However, if for God freedom means an endless and unshakable will to good, then for a person it can mean the right to choose between good and evil. The freedom of man created by God is so unlimited that man, if he wants, can separate himself from God and oppose his desire to live the way he wants to the will of God and the Providence of God.

In this possibility of man’s evasion from the will of God lay, in the words of V. Lossky, “the risk of creation,” for, “by creating a person, Divine omnipotence carries out some kind of radical “invasion” of something absolutely new: God creates beings who, like Him, remember here about the Divine Council of the book of Genesis - they can decide and choose.” But this risk “paradoxically fits into the omnipotence of God”:

The pinnacle of Divine omnipotence conceals within itself, as it were, the powerlessness of God... God becomes powerless before human freedom, He cannot force it, because it comes from His omnipotence... The Divine will will always submit to wanderings, deviations, even rebellions of the human will, to bring her to free consent. Such is Divine Providence...

Having created man free, God connected His life with the life of man, for He took upon Himself responsibility for the fate of man.

The necessity of the Incarnation follows from the very act of creation, since without God becoming man, man cannot become god. But the salvation and deification of man is not only the work of the Son of God: all three Persons of the Holy Trinity take part in it. The Gospel says: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). This means that God the Father loved man so much that he gave His Son to die for the salvation of man. And Christ says about Himself that He came to fulfill the will of the Father (see: John 6:38). And the will of the Father is that no one should perish - not one of the people He created. About the Holy Spirit, Christ says: If I do not go, the Comforter will not come to you; and if I go, I will send Him to you (John 16:7)

Based on these words of Christ, one can “reconstruct”—of course, in a completely conditional, symbolic sense—what happened at the Eternal Council. God the Father, wanting to create man in His own image and likeness, turns to the Son, asking Him whether He is ready to take responsibility for the fate of man, even to the point of becoming a man Himself and sharing the fate of humanity. The Holy Spirit also participates in this meeting, and the descent of the Holy Spirit on people, His presence in the world is placed in direct dependence on the incarnation of the Son of God. In other words, the Eternal Council means the agreement of all the Persons of the Holy Trinity to take responsibility for the fate of man.

The theme of the Eternal Council is reflected in Russian religious art. It is expressed in literary form by Archpriest Avvakum in the first chapters of his famous “Life”:

And this looking in God happened before, not even created by Adam, before, not even imagined. Speech of the Father to the Sons: Let us create man in Our image and likeness. And another answered: Let us do, Father, and He will transgress. And again he said: O My Only Begotten! O My light! about the Son and the Word! O radiance of My glory! If You provide with Your creation, it is fitting for Thee to be clothed in the human form, it is fitting for Thee to walk on the earth, to perceive the flesh, to suffer and to accomplish everything. And the Other answered: Be it, Father, Thy will. And therefore Adam was created.

The iconographic image of the Eternal Council is the image of the Holy Trinity by the Rev. Andrei Rublev. This icon depicts three Angels leaning towards each other in silent conversation, with the middle Angel pointing his finger at the cup with the sacrificial lamb. Three Angels symbolize the three Persons of the Holy Trinity, the cup symbolizes the Incarnation and the Sacrifice of the Son of God on the Cross. There is no disagreement or contradiction between the three Divine Interlocutors: They are in harmonious and indestructible unity. Love reigns between Them - the same Divine love that became the cause of the creation of the world and man and the cause of the Incarnation.

So, only after it was decided that God Himself became the pledge, the guarantor of man’s salvation, did God create man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, man and woman He created them (Genesis 1:27). Speaking about the creation of man in the image and likeness of God, Gregory of Nyssa compares God with an artist, and man with a painting that reflects the perfections of the Creator:

Divine beauty is not in external features, not in the pleasant set of the face and does not shine with any kind of good color, but is seen in the inexpressible bliss of virtue... How picturesquely human faces are represented in the picture with paints, rubbing paints of such colors that closely and accordingly express likeness, so that the beauty of the original is accurately depicted in the copy, so imagine that our Creator, as if by superimposing some colors, i.e. virtues, he colored the image to the likeness of His own beauty, in order to show His own leadership in us. These colors of the image with which the true image is painted are diverse and different: it is not blush, not whiteness, not any mixture of these colors one with another; not black any outline depicting eyebrows and eyes; not any mixture of colors that sets off deep features, and not anything similar to everything that is artificially produced by the hands of painters, but instead of all this - purity, dispassion, bliss, alienation from everything bad and everything homogeneous with what is depicted in man is likeness to the Divine. The Creator of His own image painted our nature with such colors.

The theme of the image of God is one of the central ones in the anthropology of the Church Fathers. In the Patristic Tradition there were different understandings of the image of God in man. Most of the fathers saw the image of God in the human soul" or in its highest area - the mind. According to St. Gregory the Theologian,

It happened when the high Logos of Mind, following the great Mind of the Father, Founded a world that did not exist before.

He said - and everything He wanted happened. But when all this -

Earth, sky and sea - made up space,

A contemplator of Wisdom, the mother of all, was also needed,

Reverent king of all earthly things. Then Logos...

Taking part of the newly created land,

With immortal hands I composed my image,

To whom He gave something of His life, because He sent it into him

The Spirit, which is the stream of the invisible Divinity.

Thus, from dust and breath, man was created, the image of the Immortal,

Because in both the nature of the mind reigns.

Therefore, because of my earthly (origin), I am attached to this life, But because of a particle of the Divine, I carry love (for the divine) in my chest.

Sometimes the image of God was seen in the free will of man. Some fathers also made a distinction between “image” and “likeness”: the image is what was given to man at the very moment of his creation; similarity, that is, likeness to God, a person must achieve as a result of moral improvement and good deeds.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa, in addition, said that man was created in the image of the Trinitarian God. In the first human family - Adam, Eve and their son - Gregory saw the image of the Father, Spirit and Son. God created not one person, not a lonely self-closed monad, a unit, but “man and woman,” whom he commanded to “be fruitful and multiply” (see: Gen. 1:27-28). Just as God is One in three Hypostases, so man is created as a multi-postural being. Adam, Eve and their subsequent descendants are the all-man, humanity. All people have one nature and one essence, but at the same time each person represents a unique hypostasis, personality.

Speaking about man as an image of the Holy Trinity, Anastasius Sinai offers the following interpretation: the image of the Holy Trinity is the soul, mind and mind. At the same time, the soul “appears unborn and without a cause in the impression of the unborn and without a cause of God the Father,” while the mind is born from the soul in the image of the Son of God, and the mind comes from the soul in the image of the Holy Spirit.

According to the Apostle John the Theologian, God is love (1 John 4:16). God does not simply have love directed towards something external to Him: He is within Himself, in His being there is Love. But God would not be Love if he were not a Trinity, for nothing isolated or self-enclosed can be love. In the same way, a person could not love and be involved in love if he remained alone, if his personal potential was not realized in contact with other individuals. A person becomes a person through communication with people. And it is through people that he experiences love.

Man was conceived and created by God as a being called to realize the potential of love that was inherent in him at the moment of creation. In infancy, he is drawn to his mother, and the bonds of love connect him with her, with his immediate environment, with his family in the closest, indissoluble way. Having matured, a person enters into a marriage union, and what is said in the Bible happens: a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife (Genesis 2:24). The fruit of love between husband and wife is a child, upon whom the love of the parents is poured out. Thus, it is love that is the main driving force of human history, passed on from generation to generation as a divine and never-fading heritage.

God created man from the dust of the ground, but breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (Gen. 2:7). By “breath of life” the Fathers of the Church most often understand the soul with which God has endowed man. Saint Gregory the Theologian calls the soul “the breath of God.” Received from the mouth of God, this breath of God elevates man above the entire universe and places him in close proximity to the Creator.

Having created man, God gives him the right to give names: He brings to man all the animals and birds to see what he will call them, and so that whatever man calls every living soul, that is its name. And the man gave names to all the livestock and to the birds of the air and to every beast of the field (Genesis 2:19-20). Having given man the right to name creatures, God placed man over them, making him their ruler, for to name a creature is in understanding.

The animals themselves remain unnamed, but the word of man gives them names, and thus man controls them from a higher level than they control themselves. As St. John Chrysostom says, names are given by a person in order “so that in the naming of names a sign of dominion can be seen.” Chrysostom refers to the custom of people, when buying slaves, to change their name; “So God forces Adam, as a ruler, to give names to all the dumb.” The right to give names, in addition, indicates a person’s ability to see into the essence of things, thereby becoming like God and participating in Divine creativity. According to Basil of Seleucia, by giving man the right to name animals, God seems to be saying to Adam: “Be the creator of names, since you cannot be the creator of the creatures themselves... We share with you the glory of creative wisdom... Give names to those who I gave into being."

Having created Adam from earthly matter, God creates Eve from Adam's rib. Why does God create a helper for man? Saint Theophilus of Antioch believes: so that there is love between them. St. Augustine answers: for childbearing. At the same time, the question of the supposed method of reproduction of people is considered if they had not sinned. The Eastern theological tradition proceeds from the fact that “virginity flourished in paradise,” and the words “be fruitful and multiply” do not mean a mandatory marriage union, “for God could have multiplied the race of people in another way, if they had kept the commandment to the end.” Saint Gregory of Nyssa believes that people could reproduce in the same way as Angels. In Western theology, the opinion of St. Augustine has been established, who says that the marriage union certainly had to take place, but people did not have time to enter into it while in paradise, because “immediately after the creation of the wife, before they entered into the union, that crime followed , for which they... were taken out of this blessed place.”

According to biblical revelation, man was created as the ruler of the universe (Genesis 1:26). John Chrysostom emphasizes that “man is the most excellent of all visible animals; It is for him that all this was created: the sky, the earth, the sea, the sun, the moon, the stars, reptiles, cattle, all dumb animals.”

The primordial man, according to the teachings of the Church, was in harmony with himself, with nature and with the God who created him. According to Macarius of Egypt, Adam was a friend of God, remained in purity, reigned over his thoughts and was blissful. The Word abided in Adam, and he had the Spirit of God in him: “The Word that abided in him was everything to him—knowledge, sensation, inheritance, and teaching.” Adam’s closeness to God was very great: “The angels trembled, the Cherubim and Seraphim did not dare to look directly at God, while Adam talked with Him as if with a friend.”

At the same time, primordial man was not so established in goodness that he was unable to fall into sin. Therefore, God plants the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in paradise (Genesis 2:9), “as a kind of test and trial,” and gives man a commandment, fulfilling which he must practice goodness. For “it was not profitable for man that he, being still unskilled and untested, should receive incorruptibility,” since in this case there remained the risk that he would fall into pride and be condemned by the devil.

Primordial man was created in order to “cultivate” the earth (see: Gen. 2:5). This can be seen as an indication of man’s calling to creativity. In the Bible, God is presented as the Creator-Demiurge-Worker: My Father works until now, and I work (John 5:17). Man also becomes a doer, and although, unlike God, he cannot create “out of nothing,” he can take God’s gifts and improve them, bringing them to even greater beauty and harmony. A person can make a house out of wood, a sculpture out of stone, or a jug out of clay. By creating, a person imitates the Creator and becomes like Him. Man is introduced into the material universe as a mediator between God and creation, as a priest of the entire universe. Just as a priest during the liturgy, saying “Thine from Thine,” returns His gifts to God with thanksgiving, man was called to possess this world in order to reign over it, to lead the world to perfection and deification. Through fulfilling the commandments, man had to return peace to the Creator Himself, Who made him lord and king over the universe.

The Fathers of the Church speak of man as the highest creation of God, as the crown of the creative process of the Creator. In the words of Irenaeus of Lyons, “the glory of God is a living man.” Irenaeus is echoed by Gregory the Theologian: “Your glory is the man whom You placed here as an Angel, the singer of Your radiance!” Elsewhere Gregory speaks of man as the temple of God and “created god”:

If you think low of yourself, (then I will remind you) that you are

Christ's creation And breath, a venerable part (of Him), and therefore heavenly, And earthly; you are a created god, an unforgettable work (of the Creator), through the sufferings of Christ the soul to imperishable glory... For man is the temple of the great God; and he makes himself such (a temple) who renounces the earth and unceasingly goes to heaven. I command you to keep this temple fragrant from your deeds and words, always having God within you...

The main purpose and calling of man is to ascend from the earthly to the heavenly, from the human to the Divine. God, according to Gregory, created man so that he would achieve greater glory and, “replacing the earthly (with the heavenly) in himself... like a god, he would go from here to God.” Being a god in his potential, a person must achieve such a degree of godlikeness at which he becomes completely deified. The goal of a person’s life is “to become god and spirit... to become in the rank of the radiant angelic face, having received an even greater reward for great labors.” In this statement, Gregory is faithful to the entire Eastern Christian tradition, which defines the goal of human life with the term “deification.”

Eternal advice / revealing to You, O Young Lady, / Gabriel appeared, / kissing You and saying: / Rejoice, uninhabited land; / Rejoice, burning bush; / Rejoice, depth incomprehensible; / Rejoice, bridge leading to Heaven, / and a high ladder, / seen by Jacob to the south; / Rejoice, Divine source of manna; / rejoice, resolution of the oath; / Rejoice, Adam’s proclamation: / The Lord is with you.

Revealing the eternal advice to You, O Young Lady, / Gabriel appeared to You, greeting You and exclaiming: / “Rejoice, land unsown; / Rejoice, thorn bush that does not burn; / Rejoice, depth impenetrable by sight; / Rejoice, bridge leading to heaven / and high staircase , which Jacob saw; / Rejoice, Divine vessel with manna; / Rejoice, deliverance from the curse; / Rejoice, calling Adam to salvation, / The Lord is with You!”

This chant is dedicated to the event of Archangel Gabriel announcing to the Virgin Mary the secret of the incarnation of God the Word from Her. Revealing the Eternal Council to You, the Young Lady, Gabriel appears - the Holy Church sings at the beginning of the service of the great feast of the Annunciation.
The Eternal Council of the Holy Trinity on the incarnation of the Only Begotten Son of God for the redemption and salvation of the human race was an incomprehensible secret, hidden until the time appointed by God not only from people, but also from Angels. When the time for the incarnation of the Word of God approached, the Virgin Mary, the only one in the world in Her purity and holiness, appeared from among humanity - worthy to serve the cause of salvation of the human race and to become the Mother of the Son of God. The unshakable, deep faith of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Her equally deep humility, combined with fiery love for God and devotion to His holy will, appeared as that fertile Niva, in the depths of which the Blessed Fruit arose - the God-Man Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who took upon Himself the sins of all peace.

What is the Eternal Council? This is that mysterious meeting of the Holy Trinity - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, which was dedicated to the creation of the world and man and the subsequent fate of creation. The Lord created the world out of His ineffable goodness. He created the world so that there would be beings who, living in this world, would unite with Him and enjoy the bliss that He possesses to an absolute degree. First the angels became such creatures, then the plant and animal world, and man became the crown of creation. And it was the fate of man that was primarily discussed at this mysterious Eternal Council. We learn about this not from Holy Scripture, but from church tradition and from the speculation of the holy fathers of the Church, who tell us that the Mystery of the Incarnation was conceived by God outside of time, in His Divine and Ineffable Eternal Council.
This mystery was destined to be revealed when, as the Apostle Paul says, "the fullness of time has come"(Gal. 4:4) when it pleased God. And then the Lord sent His angel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary in order to announce to her that God’s favor had rested on Her, that She had found grace in the eyes of God, and that from Her in an ineffable and mysterious way a Son would be born who would become the Savior of the world. It was this event that became the beginning or, as Church Slavonic texts say, principality our salvation, because in this event the world above and the world below, the world of the Divine presence, the world of angels and the human world, were inexpressibly united.
In the person of the Most Holy Theotokos, who even before her birth was prepared to become the Receptacle of the Divine, to become the Burning Bush, to become the Unsown Land, to become the Ladder leading to heaven, - in Her person human nature reached its highest moral and spiritual limit. Above Her is only the God-man Jesus Christ, born in an inexpressible way from Her and from the Holy Spirit.
Why do we glorify the Blessed Virgin Mary? Because She, with her life, devotion to God, and complete dedication of herself to Him, so surpassed not only people, but also angels, that the Church glorifies Her as the Most Honest Cherub and the Most Glorious, without comparison, Seraphim. And when the Archangel Gabriel descended from heaven to Her in order to announce to Her about the Mystery of the Incarnation, She trembled because she saw before her a representative of the heavenly world and the messenger of God. But the angel trembled even more, as we hear about this from liturgical texts, because he appeared before She who is higher than the angels in her human holiness, who has surpassed all rational nature and who stands at the throne of her Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and whom we glorify together with Him, which is connected with him by such close ties that we, Orthodox Christians, cannot, while glorifying the Savior, not simultaneously glorify His Most Pure Mother.

One of the supreme angels, Gabriel, announces the secret to the Most Holy Theotokos, “which has been kept silent from eternity”(Rom. 14; 24). She "found favor with God"(Luke 1:30) and will miraculously become the cause of salvation "all kinds"(Luke 1:48). Biblical images that prophetically pointed to the economy of salvation are becoming a reality - the aspirations of Old Testament Israel are coming true.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is compared to "uninhabited land"- She remained an Ever-Virgin both before the birth of the Infant God and after (cf. Luke 1; 27-35, Matt. 1; 25, Luke 20; 28, Gen. 38; 8), Her human nature remained untouched by the tares of sin, only "good seed"(Matthew 13:24) sprouted in the soul of Mary (Matthew 13:32, Mark 4:26), raising it incomparably above the angelic powers. Thus, the central idea of ​​this stanza is not only the purity of the Most Pure One, but also the purity of humanity perceived by the Lord; the chain of transmission of original sin is interrupted - the New Adam is free from all hidden sinfulness, but voluntarily accepts upon himself all the limitations of “being undermined by sinful incompleteness.”
“The Incarnation is accomplished by the action of the Holy Spirit,” writes V.N. Lossky. - He completes the cleansing of Her womb, making it completely virgin, and thus imparts to the Virgin Mary, by the very perfection of purity, the power to perceive and give birth to the Word. The most perfect virginity, bestowed by the Spirit, as the purity of the entire being, coincides with the Mother of God.” Those. in the incarnation, predetermined "before the foundation of the world"(1 Pet. 1; 20), the action of all Three Participants of the Eternal Council is revealed: the Father favors, the Son incarnates and the Spirit purifies. Nothing unclean can enter into the fullness of communion with God, and the bowels of Mary, prepurified and sanctified by the influx of the Holy Spirit, become "burning bush"(Ex. 3; 2), containing "consuming fire"(Ex. 24; 17), "Lords of Glory"(1 Cor. 2; 8, James 2; 1).
In the stichera, the Mother of God is called “inconceivable depth” - the Incarnation is indescribable "a mystery hidden from eternity in God"(Eph. 3:9), the acceptance by the indescribable Divine of “perfect human life” cannot be completely exhausted by limited human language and dogmatic formulas - there will always remain an ineffable remnant of the mystery of the economy of the Son.
The very act of human creation (Gen. 1; 26) is associated with risk, because a person is capable of both falling away from the Source of life and becoming like Him. And the Lord does not isolate himself in inaccessible Heavenly abodes, leaving the world to himself, but the Eternal Council shows us that all responsibility for the fate of the created universe falls on the Creator. And the Lord in the economy of salvation provides everyone with the opportunity to choose.
It is this possibility of ascent to the Lord through the condescension of the Son that is spoken of in the stichera: "Rejoice, you lead the bridge to heaven, And the high ladder, to the south Jacob saw"(Genesis 28; 12).

“The ineffable condescension of God to the final limits of our human fall, to death, is a condescension that opens to people the path of ascension, the boundless horizons of the union of creation with the Divine... It was necessary to voluntarily humiliate the Son of God so that fallen people could fulfill their calling, the calling to the deification of creation the action of uncreated grace,” writes Archpriest. Liveriy Voronov. In the perspective of predetermined (Eph. 1; 5) salvation as deification through the consistent descent of the Lord into the created universe down to the depths of hell, it is necessary to consider the following stanza:
"Rejoice, divine source of manna"(cf. Ex. 16, John 6; 30-35).
“The bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world”, says Jesus about Himself (John 6:33).
The last lines of the stichera speak of the purpose of the Eternal Council, the result of the saving action of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit: "the resolution of the oath,... Adam's proclamation"(Gen. 3; 17), the curse is abolished, Adam’s crime is healed. " The Lord is with you“- through the coming of the Lord into the world and the free consent of humanity through the mouth of Mary not only to accept the fruits of kenosis, but also to actively participate in the work of salvation (Luke 1: 38), the fullness of communion with God returns - “The Kingdom of God has come near”(Luke 10; 9).

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Eternal Council of the Holy Trinity- a beginningless, timeless (occurring before the century, before time - “before” the century, “before” time) plan for the world, God’s contemplation from eternity of the images of the world (the existence of the world).

The eternal council is called eternal because it takes place outside the time inherent in our created world. The eternal council of the Holy Trinity is carried out in Divine eternity, preceding the existence of all created things and events. At the eternal council of the Holy Trinity, the Divine concept of each being who is to receive life from God was determined. The Eternal Council is called a council, because all the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity participate in it.

Eternal advice is special advice. The Persons of the Holy Trinity participating in it exist inseparably and possess a single Divine will. The ideas and plans of the eternal council are the ideas and plans of a single omnipotent Being, which are always fulfilled and put into practice. Therefore, the word “advice” in this case is closer to the concept of a volitional decision, an expression of will, understood as a thought, plan or idea that will certainly and immutably come true.

According to St. , God “contemplated everything before its existence, but each thing receives its existence at a certain time, in accordance with His eternal willful thought, which is predestination, and image, and plan.” Divine thoughts, plans and images are the “eternal and unchangeable council” of God, in which “everything predetermined by God and strictly accomplished before his existence is outlined.” Divine counsel is unchangeable, eternal and immutable, for God Himself is eternal and unchangeable. At the eternal Divine Council of the Holy Trinity, a decision was made on the creation of man, which is reflected in the words of Scripture: “Let us create man in Our image and in Our likeness” (). At the eternal Divine Council of the Holy Trinity, a decision was made on the Incarnation of the Son of God and the salvation of humanity.

The eternal council for the salvation of the human race is the plan for the Incarnation as the union of the Divine and human natures in the God-Man Jesus Christ, for the salvation and redemption of the human race through His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. This plan is the most important part of God’s general plan for the entire created world.

The divine plan for the salvation of the human race is an eternal plan, like all the plans of God. Foreseeing humanity before the creation of the world, God determined humanity in eternity.

The First Person of the Holy Trinity, God the Father, acted as the forerunner of this decision.

The Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God, for the sake of the salvation of mankind, expressed consent to, which is reflected in the words of Scripture: “You did not desire sacrifices and offerings, but you prepared a body for Me. Burnt offerings and sin offerings are displeasing to You. Then I said, “Behold, I come, as at the beginning of the book it is written about Me” (), as well as in the words “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (

From the editors of RN: Icon of the Holy Trinity- the peak expression of this Spiritual Reality in world culture— created by prp. Andrei Rublev as a spiritual response to the Battle of Kulikovo and “praise” to St. Sergius of Radonezh. The article by A. Saltykov talks about who and what is depicted on this Icon.

Author Alexander Saltykov — now an archpriest, dean of the Faculty of Church Arts of PSTGU, a famous art critic, one of the first scientific employees of the Andrei Rublev Central Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art, a member of the Union of Artists of Russia.

This article "Iconography of "Trinity" by Andrei Rublev"published (abbreviated)in the publication of the Temple of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi at the State Tretyakov Gallery "Tolmachevsky leaf" No. 30 for 2009.

The image of the “Trinity” in the form of three angels is based on the text of chapter 18 of the book of Genesis: “And the Lord appeared to Abraham at the oak grove of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three the man stood opposite him. When he saw him, he ran towards them from the entrance of the tent and bowed down to the ground, and said: Master, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant; and they will bring a little water and wash your feet; and rest under this tree, and I will bring bread, and you will strengthen your hearts; then go on your way, since you are passing by your servant. They said, “Do as you say.” And Abraham hastened to Sarah’s tent and said to her: quickly knead three sati of the best flour and make unleavened bread. And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a tender and good calf, and gave it to the young man, and he hastened to prepare it. And he took the butter and milk and the cooked calf, and set it before them, and he stood by them under the tree. And they ate. And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? He answered: here, in the tent. And one of them said: I will be with you again at this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son. ... And those men arose and went from there to Sodom and Gomorrah; Abraham went with them to see them off."

The “Old Testament Trinity” is the only dogmatic subject in Eastern Christian art that is presented in the form of a biblical scene. Therefore, it is necessary to take into account that in each image of the “Trinity” two levels of content are combined: narrative and dogmatic. The different ratios of these two levels determine the variety of compositions.

The Trinity icon was painted by St. Andrei Rublev in the first third of the 15th century. for the Trinity Church in St. Sergius Lavra. St. Nikon of Radonezh [*] instructs the icon painter to paint a temple icon for a memorial purpose: “in praise of his father Sergius the Wonderworker.”

[*] St. Nikon of Radonezh is the favorite student of St. Sergius of Radonezh, who before his death appointed him as his successor. St. Nikon was the abbot of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in 1392-1426.

St. Sergius of Radonezh was glorified as having special “boldness towards the Holy Trinity.” The creators of hymns in his honor called it “Trinity indwelling.” The image in his “praise” was supposed to be of a purely speculative, philosophical nature, in contrast to the previous images of the “Trinity”, at least without the forefathers (before St. Andrei Rublev, there were several types of image of the Trinity, differing in the composition of angels and forefathers, including without forefathers (Abraham and Sarah). However, there were few of the latter and, basically, these were images in small plastic works and miniatures).

The "Old Testament" Trinity. Icon of the Novgorod school. XV century. (Rublev’s coloristic idea becomes especially clear when comparing the Rublev icon with the Pskov Trinity" from the Moscow Assumption Cathedral and the Novgorod "Trinity" from the collection of the State Russian Museum. There, the cinnabar-scarlet dominant in the attire of angels speaks not of reconciliation, not of bright sadness. It is a fiery beginning , scorching with the greatness of the deity who appeared to man).

Beginning with Rublev's "Trinity", an abstract type of "Trinity" appears in Rus'. The later, very numerous images of this type no longer have any content other than the image of the Trinity Itself.

The low prevalence of images of the Trinity without forefathers in pre-Rubble times is apparently explained by the fact that iconography only gradually and in parallel with the development of dogmatics revealed ideas about the revealed Divinity. Created by Rev. Andrei Rublev's version had a huge influence on further Russian iconography. If the “Trinity” with the forefathers is a biblical-historical image, then the “Trinity” without them, even before Andrei Rublev, was a revelation of the trinity itself - so essential for Christian dogmatics.

Apparently, before the writing of the Trinity, St. Andrei Rublev in the monastery the main temple image was the icon of the “Trinity” with the forefathers. Rublev undoubtedly knew her and, according to Nikon’s plan, should have surpassed her.

The first Lavra “Trinity” was an ordinary five-figure image - three angels appeared to Abraham and Sarah. Rublev needed to express that pure idea of ​​trinity, which, under the influence of Sergius, became the highest expression of the ideals of the era.

In the “pre-Rubble” “Trinity”, Abraham and Sarah are depicted approaching the divine meal, which emphasizes the Eucharistic [*] and at the same time “household” meaning of the event.

[*] The meal of angels is a prototype of the greatest sacrament of the New Testament Church - the Eucharist (Greek thanksgiving), in which, under the guise of bread and wine, believers partake of the True Body and Blood of Christ.

The Eucharistic content of Rublev's "Trinity" is a further development of earlier ideas. It should be said that Rublev’s Lavra predecessor was an experienced and thoughtful master; he was aware of both contemporary artistic and theological ideas and searches. It was not easy to surpass him.

However, Rublev found new opportunities to express the idea that possessed him and created worthy “praise” for Sergius.

COMPOSITION "TRINITY"

The composition “Trinity” is especially perfect. There is a huge literature on the composition of Rublev’s “Trinity”, and many subtle observations have been made. It also lists those necessary features that are not repeated in monuments “without forefathers” and determine the essence of the “temporary” development of the event captured in the icon.

Trinity. 1427 (A. Rublev)

The most significant, from our point of view, compositional technique of St. Andrei Rublev is that the angels are brought to the foreground to the utmost. Compared to his “Trinity,” in other compositions of the same name, the figures are usually moved back somewhat. In Rublev's icon, the desire to push the figures to the extreme led to a feature already noted in the literature: it seems that the middle angel is in the foreground. [V.I. Lazarev. Andrei Rublev and his school. M., 1969, p. 39.].

At one time, M.V. Alpatov noted that angels are inscribed in a circle. It can be assumed that Rublev used a rhythm characteristic of images on panagia, but the mechanical transfer of a circular composition onto a rectangular plane, of course, is completely insufficient to create a work of art. As L.A. Uspensky noted, in panagias the arrangement of figures in a circle is determined by the shape of the object, and not by dogmatic thought. Andrei Rublev took old elements from the well-known iconographic versions of the “Trinity”, but “harmonized” them in a new way, subordinating them to the main idea of ​​​​the image.

The protrusion of the angels “towards the viewer”, the reduction in the scale of landscape elements, the cutting of the wings of the right and left angels, the bringing together of the bases at an acute angle - all this contributes not only to the introduction of various rhythms into the composition, but also serves to clearly define the position of the viewer, always oriented towards the direct presence of the middle to an angel.

Once again, attention should be paid to the choice of the “temporary” moment. The angels seem to have passed the tent of Abraham and are making a covenant again, but not only with the forefather of Israel, but with the viewer, who, standing before the cup, “closes” the circle underlying the composition on the fourth side.

WHO DO ANGELS SYMBOLIZE?

Let's move on to the main thing - the image of the angels themselves. In art history literature, it has become a stable tradition to talk about the amazing sophistication of the lines of the silhouettes of angels, so corresponding to the quiet harmony of their images. The geometric correctness of sinusoids and parabolas of contours is often noted, which was first discussed with enthusiasm by Yu.A. Olsufiev. The idea is often put forward that “each of the angels is silently immersed in himself. They are not connected by gaze either with each other or with the viewer”[*].

[*] See: Yu.A. Olsufiev. Iconographic forms as synthesis formulas. Sergiev, 1926, p. 10-12.; "History of Russian Art", vol. III. M., 1955, p. 152.

However, such observations, for all their accuracy and subtlety, do not answer the question: what is the hidden thought that comes through in the barely noticeable actions of angels? To try to answer it, let us first turn to the image of the middle angel.

The middle angel symbolizes God the Son

The compositional position - in the center - and the frontal turn, unlike others, make his image the main one for direct perception. This position of the angel is determined by the fact that he depicts the second Person of the Trinity - the Son of God. This is fully consistent with tradition [*].

[*] The issue of the relationship of angels with hypostases, which has caused a lot of controversy in literature, is easily resolved if you carefully study the iconography, in which, as a rule, the middle angel has the attributes of the Son of God - primarily a cross-shaped halo, as well as some others. Exceptions like the “Zyryan Trinity” are apparently so unconventional that they required inscriptions above the angels, denoting the Persons of the Trinity. It would be completely unhistorical to imagine that Andrei Rublev would arbitrarily change the canonical arrangement of hypostases, which he, as a monk and leading Moscow icon painter, should have considered immutable.

The middle angel bows his head to the right, i.e. in the direction of the first angel. This obviously expresses attention to the first angel, whose right hand is represented in a gesture of blessing. The response of the second angel to the blessing of the first is not limited, however, to bowing his head. M.V. Alpatov noted the elevation of the left knee of the middle angel. The right knee remains in place. Obviously, the angel stands up, listening to the first angel. This significant feature escaped the attention of researchers. Smooth, harmonious lines only “mask” the speed of his movement. To see this, let's look carefully at his silhouette, at the contours of his shoulders. They are almost symmetrical. But this symmetry is achieved by the fact that the shoulders are given in a complex spread: the left shoulder goes deep into the image, which is emphasized by the vertically extending back folds of the himation (himatium - outer clothing); the right shoulder moves forward along with the arm.

The intensity of the action, the hidden movement is conveyed by the features of the clothing - the shape of the sleeve, the position of the draperies, the features of the neckline of the chiton of the middle angel.

The combination of peace with stormy movement, conveyed with such skill by Rublev, creates a feeling of harmony. The degree of tension of the middle angel reaches its maximum through a combination of opposing movements, although the artist hides the nakedness of the action with amazing perfection and thereby enhances its effect.

In constructing the figure of St. Andrei Rublev seems to deviate quite a bit from the traditional image of the middle angel, for example in the first Lavra “Trinity”, where we see the same triangular arrangement of the figure. But there are no marked elements of dynamics. These elements are present in a similar combination in Byzantine and Balkan images of angels of a different type - in the scenes of "The Myrrh-Bearing Wife at the Holy Sepulcher", where we see a number of the same details - the turn of the shoulders, in which the folds of the himation "go" vertically along the far shoulder, the neckline on the shoulder that comes forward, the sleeve is rounded by the movement of the arm.

The image created by Rublev combines elements of different iconographic types of angels. The spreads he uses go back to ancient sculpture, but transformed more deeply than those of the Byzantines - the form is subordinated to a much greater extent to the line, which, in turn, is characterized by the calm rhythm of geometrized forms.

Where is the middle angel going? What commission of the first angel is he in a hurry to fulfill? Before answering this, let us turn to the image of the first and third angels.

The first angel symbolizes God the Father

The angel sits more upright than the others; In addition to the blessing gesture, we also note the direct positioning of the rod (“measure”), which is pushed forward in contrast to the bowed rods of the second and third angels. The hands are moved almost close together; this gesture expresses composure and purposefulness. Like the second angel, his leg is slightly raised. We will dwell on the meaning of this movement below.

Signs of power symbolize God the Father. His blessing applies not only to the second, but also to the third angel.

The third angel symbolizes God the Holy Spirit

The latter personifies the greatest peace; there is a peaceful concentration in it, even some relaxation and softness. The position of the third angel's rod is characteristic; it lies on the shoulder, and in the lower part is located comfortably and steadily between the slightly spread knees and crossed legs of the angel. This position corresponds to the pose of thoughtful, leisurely reflection.

Contrasting with the general peace of the figure of the third angel is the position of his wings. If the first and second angels have generally calm and even wings, then the third have them inclined to varying degrees, which indicates movement. The rise of the left wing directs the viewer's gaze to the mountain, thereby achieving vertical unity of all elements of the image.

The movements of the wings express spiritual uplift, complementing the image of spiritual peace. As in other angels, the third angel combines states of movement and rest, and movement is expressed primarily in symbols,

whereas in the middle angel their combination is expressed through the “discreteness” of the forms of the figure itself, and in the first their opposition is almost smoothed out, at the same time the second and third angels are opposed to each other as the primary carriers of both movement and rest.

However, according to one of the classical formulations contained in the works of Basil the Great, “The Son is the image of the Father, and the Spirit is the image of the Son.” This definition is generally very important for medieval art, since it occupies a prominent place in the Byzantine theory of the image, as the general basis of artistic creativity, which was formed especially during the period of the struggle against iconoclasm. In Rublev's "Trinity" it finds broad and complete expression, primarily through the likeness of angels. This resemblance has a certain artistic complexity. Some traits bring the first and second angels closer together, others - the second and third.

As is constantly noted in publications, the heads of the second and third angels are inclined towards the first. If we mentally reconstruct the “real” position of all three angels around the table, then this declination will be a sign of symmetry. Other similar signs will be hand positions. In the second and third, they are slightly apart, the right is on the table, the left is on the knee, and in the first, the arms are raised and brought together. The position of the bowed wands is also symmetrical. The design of the angels' clothes has mirror symmetry. In the second, the himation is thrown from left to right, and in the third, from right to left. However, the blue spots on the clothes correspond to "repeated" symmetry. The discrepancy between the symmetry of form and the symmetry of color is one of the techniques of ancient Russian art that complicates the image. For the first angel, the clothing on both shoulders lies the same, i.e., symmetrically with respect to the second and third angels when reconstructing the “real” position.

The above observations of symmetry allow us to say the following. If with ordinary - plane - perception the second angel is the natural center, in relation to which the first and third are symmetrical, then with spatial perception any angel becomes central, and the other two form a symmetrical figure in relation to it. Thus, the ideal ratio of angels can be roughly likened to the equality of angles in a triangle.

The same transformation occurs with the elements of the landscape, since they are inseparably linked with the space of each figure. Moved during mental reconstruction after the figures, these elements form an outer circle behind the Trinity. Thus, the Trinity is, as it were, in the center of the cosmos, and the center of the Trinity is the chalice.

As a result of spatial understanding of the composition, it is possible to answer the previously posed question about the meaning of the movement of the middle angel: the Father sends the Son into the world, and the motive of love for the world is especially important [*]. The artist remains within the framework of biblical historicism, but the depiction of forefathers becomes optional.

[*] This is indicated, in particular, by N. Demina (see N. Demina. Andrei Rublev and the artists of his circle. M., 1963, p. 48) based on the text: “For God so loved the world that he gave his Son His Only Begotten... so that the world might be saved through Him" ​​(John 3:16-17).

Rublev depicts the moment before one of the angels sent the other two to Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18, 21-22). The son instantly agrees to fulfill what was assigned (“the word became flesh”),

therefore, the turbulence of his movement expresses love and obedience. The ascent of the angel depicts his descent into the world and readiness for the atoning sacrifice. As is known, the symbols of his sacrifice are seen in the icon as a tree and a bowl; Compositionally, the angel is presented among them. Historical and transhistorical meanings intersect in both symbols, and the tension of the angel’s movement receives justification in the semantic tension revealed through the symbols.

ETERNAL COUNCIL OF THE HOLY TRINITY

Rublev's work is a complete artistic reflection of the Eastern Christian teaching about the Trinity. It should be noted that in this work the artist depicted, of course, not the hypostases themselves, but angels, in whose actions and attributes they (the hypostases) are manifested.

Created by Rev. Andrei Rublev can call the iconographic type the image of the “Trinity - the Eternal Council”[*].

[*] The Eternal Council is a mysterious decision of the Divine Persons that preceded the creation of man: “And God said: Let us make man in Our image and in Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). The Slavic word “council” means “expression of will,” and not “conference,” for “conference” in its meaning means the coordination of several wills, whereas in God the will is one.
God created man as a free being who is capable of abusing his freedom and turning his back on his Creator. God foresaw that man would misuse his freedom and sin. And having sinned, he will need Atonement. Therefore, God determined to save man and chose the necessary means for this. These means are the incarnation of the Son of God, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, and His atoning sacrifice.

The essence of the Council is the voluntary consent of the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity to offer Himself as an atoning sacrifice for the salvation of man and the whole world.

The Holy Spirit assimilates to redeemed sinners the fruits of Christ's sacrifice and, with His assistance, accomplishes the work of salvation in human hearts: “God from the beginning, through the sanctification of the Spirit and faith in the truth, chose you for salvation” (2 Thess. 2:13).

In this case, it is clear why the middle angel is depicted in the icon without the usual cross-shaped halo.

All of the above does not exclude the active social significance of the Trinity. We should agree with those researchers who see in “Trinity” a symbolic response to the Battle of Kulikovo.

In his work, Rev. Andrei contrasted the “hateful discord of this world” with the ideal of harmony and love; he was able to tell his contemporaries something completely new in both the form and content of the “Trinity,” while completely remaining within the traditional elements of both form and content. This is how the brilliant artist and great thinker of ancient Rus' Andrei Rublev gave “praise to Sergius” and the entire ancient Russian culture.

PAOLA VOLKOVA: BRIDGE OVER THE ABYSS. ANDREY RUBLEV "TRINITY"

Alfrey workshop "Sphere". Annunciation

F. Barocci. Annunciation

D. Collier. Annunciation

Dear friends! Today, on the eve of the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I would like to talk about one of my favorite Orthodox church hymns sung on this holiday - the stichera “Eternal Council.” If you are in church today at the All-Night Vigil for the Annunciation, you will hear this stichera of the 6th tone. It is often sung at the Annunciation Liturgy as a sacramental concert.

D. Tissot. Annunciation

V. Nesterenko. Annunciation

I have had the opportunity to sing this stichera myself many times. Our choir sang it precisely to that ancient znamenny chant that I present in this post. The melody suits the words amazingly. Calm, outwardly simple, but very beautiful, it so naturally leads to a jubilant exclamation: “Rejoice!” and majestically ends with the words: “The Lord is with you.” An extraordinary feeling always covers both those singing and listening.

D. Vasari. Annunciation

Waterhouse. Annunciation

This is the stichera.

Revealing eternal advice to You, O Youth,
Gabriel appeared,
Kissing you and saying:
Rejoice, uninhabited land,
Rejoice, burning bush,
Rejoice, unfathomable depth,
Rejoice, lead the bridge to heaven,
And the high ladder, to the south of Jacob,
Rejoice, divine source of manna,
Rejoice, resolution of the oath,
Rejoice, Adam's proclamation,
The Lord is with you.

D. Rossetti. Annunciation

A. Rekunenko. Annunciation

I would like to explain the Church Slavonic text, which is not understandable to everyone.

Ya. Kapkov. Annunciation

T. Gotch. Annunciation

What kind of “Eternal Council” is this? In the modern meaning, “advice” is the coordination of the intentions of several subjects. But when the Holy Scriptures speak of “God’s council,” the “council of the Holy Trinity,” it means the appearance to the world of an act of Divine decision made “according to the good will of the will.” Thus the word "counsel" here means the same as "covenant."

Bulle. Annunciation

A. Allori. Annunciation

The word “pre-eternal” - in the modern version “pre-eternal” - means what happened “before the age”, that is, “before times”, was predetermined by God even before the Creation of the world. The Lord knew about the coming fall of mankind and about the atonement of sins by the death of the Cross of the One who would be born of the Virgin. And this terrible Divine secret is revealed to the Virgin by Archangel Gabriel.

K. Crivelli. Annunciation

S. Shemet. Annunciation

"Rejoice!" - he exclaims, predicting Her future glory as the Mother of the King of Kings.

Bouguereau. Annunciation

A. yes Messina. Maria reading

Icon of the Mother of God "Before Christmas and after Christmas the Virgin"

“Before Christmas and after Christmas the Virgin” - there is an icon with this name. Only such a Virgin could become the Mother of the Savior.

Korzhev. Annunciation

A. yes Messina. Annunciation

Gabriel compares the Virgin to unsown land and a burning bush. Not only Her bodily purity is meant here, but also the purity of her soul.

Moses in front of the Burning Bush

The burning bush (bush) is an image from the Old Testament. The prophet Moses saw such a burning and unburnt bush, and God spoke to him from the fire. Living among people, seeing their passions, the Virgin remained immaculate - the fire of sin did not touch Her. And, like the Burning Bush, She was able to carry the Fire of the Divine within herself and not be scorched by it.

Icon of the Mother of God "Burning Bush"

In the New Testament tradition, it is customary to call the Mother of God the Burning Bush; everyone probably knows about the icon with that name.

Borovikovsky. Annunciation. Sketches for the Royal Doors

B. Jones. Annunciation

Gabriel speaks about the great mystery of the Divine Conception, calling the Virgin an inconceivable depth, that is, impenetrable, which cannot be understood and comprehended by ordinary human minds and feelings.

L. da Vinci. Annunciation

S. Metyard. Annunciation

Since Mary was born of earthly parents, and was honored to be the chosen one of the Holy Spirit, She appeared as a bridge between the Divine and earthly worlds. And She leads us to the Heavenly world, firstly, by her example, and secondly, by constantly praying for the human race. This is why Gabriel calls Her the bridge leading to Heaven.

Borovikovsky. Annunciation. Central part of the triptych

“Jacob’s Ladder” is also an Old Testament image.

Jacob's Ladder

Patriarch Jacob, whose virtuous life earned God's special favor, once saw in a dream a ladder connecting earth and heaven, along which Angels ascended and descended. By calling the Mother of God this way, Gabriel again emphasizes Her role as a connecting link between the earthly and the Heavenly.

Murillo. Annunciation

Not everyone knows what a “stack of manna” is (option: “handle of manna”). “Stamna”, translated from Church Slavonic, means some kind of container, usually a vessel or bowl. The word “handle” has the same meaning, because a hand, a handful, is the prototype of a bowl. The Lord fed the Old Testament Jews with manna that fell from heaven, that is, bread, during their forty-year wanderings in the desert after fleeing Egypt. Christ is often called the Bread of Heaven.

Borovikovsky. Annunciation. Triptych

“Resolution of the oath” is the reversal of the Divine curse brought upon humanity through original sin. By expelling Adam and Eve from Paradise, the Lord sentenced them not only to an earthly life full of work and troubles, but also to mortality - “you are earth and you will go back to earth.” But the Virgin gave birth to Christ, who by his death “ransomed us from the legal oath.” It is not for nothing that in the troparion of the Annunciation it is sung: “The day of our salvation is the main thing,” that is, the beginning. Our salvation from eternal death began precisely with the Virgin conception from the Holy Spirit.

M. Nesterov. Annunciation

Gabriel speaks about the same thing with the words: “Rejoice, Adam’s proclamation.” After death, Adam and Eve languished in hell, and only Christ, having risen, freed (called) them from there.

P. Champagne. Annunciation

And Gabriel concludes his greeting with the words: “The Lord is with you,” once again confirming God’s chosenness of the Virgin.

Listen to this chant in a magnificent performance by the United Choir of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary.

Let this chant be my humble gift to you for the Annunciation. Happy Holidays, dear friends!