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Apostle Paul

Andrei Rublev, Apostle Paul (detail), circa 1410. Tempera on wood, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

Andrei Rublev (circa 1360–1430) was a medieval Russian painter famous for his Orthodox icons and frescoes. Rublev’s style represents the revival of Byzantine art. While the late Byzantine mannerist icons that Rublev looked to for inspiration contained elements that were purely decorative, Rublev’s interpretation of the style is more austere. While Rublev used rich golds, browns, blues and reds in this portrait of Paul, it depicts the apostle as calm, solitary, and ascetic. The Apostle Paul formed part of an iconostasis, a portable screen used to separate the nave of a church from the sanctuary, which also included icons of Christ and the Archangel Michael.

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A person who abstains from worldly pleasures, usually for religious reasons.

Relating to the Byzantine empire, which ruled the Eastern Mediterranean from the fifth century CE to 1453; its capital was Byzantium (modern Istanbul).

Painting, usually murals, created in wet plaster.

A religious work of art often depicting a religious figure, as in a painting.

Of or relating to the Middle Ages, generally from the fifth century to the fifteenth century C.E. and overlapping somewhat with late antiquity.

Of or belonging to any of several branches of Christianity, especially from Eastern Europe and the Middle East, whose adherents trace their tradition back to the earliest Christian communities. Lowercase ("orthodox"), this term means conforming with the dominant, sanctioned ideas or belief system.