An Icon to RememberDuring the late Byzantine period a new explosion of creative energy gripped Russian artists. Other artists emerged as Russians became increasingly interested in art. At the beginning of the Byzantine period "art having to do with religious worship, such as statues and any religious images throughout the empire, was destroyed under Leo III in iconoclasm" (Kleiner and Mamiya 326). This era lasted almost a hundred years. During this period icon painting became very popular. “These paintings are small portable paintings depicting Christ, the Virgin, or the Saints” (Kleiner and Mamiya 342). One of the most famous and influential iconic artists born in this period was Audrei Rublev. In about 1410 he designed his masterpiece, the Old Testament Trinity (Figure 1), one of the most beautiful and popular icon paintings in Russia. Rublev's Old Testament Trinity was a very spiritual and important icon painting during the 15th century. Audrei Rublev was born around 1360 and was known as a Russian painter and monk (“Rublev” 304). He was so spectacular that his work had a profound influence on the development of Russian art in general. His paintings were usually attributed a more linear quality (“Rublev” 304-305). “Rublev worked alongside Theophanes the Greek and Prokhor of Gorodets, who may have been his teachers, in painting the Cathedral of the Annunciation and also with the icon painter Daniil Chorny” (Hamilton 93). Although very little is known about his life, his first appearance occurred in 1405 (Hamilton 93). Audrei Rublev spent much of the rest of his life in the Andronikov Monastery, where he is now buried (“Rublev” 304). He lived to be seventy and died around 1430. Audrei Rublev was one of the greatest icon painters for Russia during the Middle Ages. “The Old Testament Trinity was dedicated to St. Sergius Radonezhsky around 1411” (“Rublev” 305). It was found in 1918 in a warehouse near the Dormition Cathedral. Even if enough serious and irreparable damage remains. “The painting depicts three angels in silent communication with each other, sitting around the altar table with a chalice indicating that the object of their contemplation is self-sacrifice” (Treasures of Art in Russia 61). The central figure, God the Father, is further back than his companions, God the Son on the left and the Holy Spirit on the right.