The Tretyakov Gallery will present the Vladimir and Don Icons of the Mother of God to the Russian Orthodox Church. Kommersant writes about this with reference to a source close to the exhibition.
According to the post, the transfer will take place on April 3. Initially, the icons will be kept in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. There was no official comment on this information.
Art critic Sofia Bagdasarova wrote about the plans to transfer the icons for the first time on March 7 – according to her, the Vladimir Icon will be sent to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and the Donskaya Icon to the Donskoy Monastery in Moscow. Similar information on March 10 with reference to sources Distributed RBC – According to the agency, the problem is already “considered resolved.”
The Vladimir and Don Icons of the Mother of God have been kept in the Tretyakov Gallery since 1930. The first of them was written in the 12th century and the second at the end of the 14th or beginning of the 15th century. The Don Icon is on permanent display, and the Vladimir Icon is preserved in the St. Nicholas Church Museum in Tolmachy.
In 2023, the Tretyakov Gallery donated Andrei Rublev’s Trinity Icon to the Russian Orthodox Church. This decision was criticized by art critics – they argued that in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where the icon is now displayed, it is impossible to provide suitable conditions for its storage.