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his brilliant technique than for his own compo-
sitions. His brother Nikolai Grigorievich Rubin-
stein (1835-81) also had a successful career, and
is remembered as the founder of the Moscow
Conservatory (1864), which he directed until his
death.
natural. Later generations, however, did not hold
Rublev in as high regard as today. Many of his
frescos and icons were touched up and painted
over. Only in the 20th century did careful clean-
ing and restoration reveal the original excellence
of his work. His most important icons, including
one found in a monastery shed in 1918 as well as
the
Old Testament Trinity,
are now at Moscow's Tre-
tiakov Gallery. Among the many artists inspired
by his work was the filmmaker Andrei
TARKOV
-
SKY
, whose
Andrei Rublev,
remains a classic of
Soviet-era film.
Rublev, Andrei
(ca. 1360-1430)
icon painter
Rublev, the founder of the “Moscow School” of
medieval painting, is the most important Russian
medieval painter. Details about his early life
remain sketchy. Born sometime between 1360
and 1370, he became a monk in middle age, first
possibly at the Trinity-St. Sergius Monastery and
later with more certainty at the Andronikov
Monastery in
MOSCOW
, where he is buried. First
mention of Rublev appears in 1405 as one of the
painters of the Cathedral of the Annunciation in
the Moscow Kremlin, working with his teacher
Prokhor Gorodetskii and the famous Byzantine
painter
FEOFAN GREK
(Theophanes the “Greek”).
This church is the first example of the multitiered
high iconostasis—the screen separating the sanc-
tuary from the congregation—that would become
traditional for Russian churches. In 1408, with
Daniil Chernyi (the “Black”), he was commis-
sioned to redecorate the great Dormition Cathe-
dral in Vladimir. The result of their work is
perhaps the finest surviving medieval Russian
fresco, a depiction of the Last Judgment. Scholars
agree that his greatest masterpiece is the icon, the
Old Testament Trinity,
originally painted for the
Trinity-St. Sergius Monastery. Drawing from the
biblical story of Abraham and Sarah offering food
to three angels in the guise of travelers, Rublev's
icon captured the Orthodox idea that they repre-
sented the Trinity in a harmonious and peaceful
composition. An important part of the cultural
flowering that accompanied Moscow's emer-
gence as a leader among Russian cities in the late
14th century, Rublev's work builds on the simple
traditions of Novgorod art and the elegance of
Byzantine art, which he probably learned from
Feofan Grek. To this he adds his own distinctive
trait: a masterful use of light, both divine and
Russian American Company
A colonial trading company that was first char-
tered by
PAUL I
in 1799, the Russian American
Company was given a monopoly on trading
privileges in the area known as Russian America
until 1867, when Russia sold
ALASKA
to the
United States. In addition to its commercial con-
cerns, during the six decades of its existence the
Company provided Russia's North American
possessions with a civil administration. While
Russian interest in Alaska had developed since
the first exploratory voyages of Vitus
BERING
in
1732, the Russian presence was mostly limited
to private traders who engaged in seasonal hunt-
ing of fur-bearing animals on the Aleutian
Islands. The Russian American Company even-
tually grew from the efforts of Grigorii She-
likhov, a merchant who in 1784 had begun the
first permanent Russian outpost on Kodiak
Island, although he did not live to see its formal
establishment. Seeking to gain control of the
North Pacific fur trade, Shelikhov petitioned
CATHERINE II
the Great for a monopoly, but he
died before the government took any action. In
December 1799, Catherine's successor, Paul I,
granted the charter creating the Russian Ameri-
can Company, with trading privileges over a vast
area that included Alaska, the Aleutian Islands,
and the territory of the North American Pacific
coast down to latitude 55° north. According to
the charter the government was to receive one-
third of the profits. Under Aleksandr
BARANOV
,
governor of Russian America from 1800 to 1818,
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