Oklad (cover) of the Trinity icon by Andrei Rublev
This oklad (precious metal icon cover) was made for Andrei Rublev’s famous Trinity icon. It covered the painting completely except for the angels’ faces, hands, and feet, and was reworked several times: the earliest elements (the frame, background, figurative plaques, and precious stone cabochons) were a gift of Tsar Boris Godunov in 1599–1600; the angel in the center wears a pendant with a gold panagia (a gift of Tsarevich Feodor) embellished with pearls and precious stones framing a re-used Byzantine saphirine cameo of Christ Pantocrator, attributable to the 10th or 11th century; the three crescent-shaped necklaces attached to the haloes were added by Tsar Michael I Romanov in 1626; and the revetment (riza) of gilt silver strips worked in repoussé was produced in 1754 by Moscow silversmith Ivan Grigoriev, at the monastery’s expense.