page_title: The Trinity in art
section_title: Less common types of depiction
hierarchical_section_title: The Trinity in art / Less common types of depiction
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Rare représentation de la Trinité, détail d'une verrière de l'église Saint Martin de Courgenard, Sarthe. English: Rare depiction of the Trinity, detail of stained glass windows in Saint Martin church, Courgenard, Sarthe, France. This building is classé au titre des Monuments Historiques. It is indexed in the Base Mérimée, a database of architectural heritage maintained by the French Ministry of Culture,&#160;under the reference PA00109730 . беларуская (тарашкевіца)‎&#160;| বাংলা&#160;| brezhoneg&#160;| català&#160;| Deutsch&#160;| Ελληνικά&#160;| English&#160;| Esperanto&#160;| español&#160;| euskara&#160;| suomi&#160;| français&#160;| magyar&#160;| italiano&#160;| 日本語&#160;| македонски&#160;| Nederlands&#160;| português&#160;| português do Brasil&#160;| română&#160;| русский&#160;| sicilianu&#160;| svenska&#160;| українська&#160;| العربيَّة&#160;| +/− This object is classé Monument Historique in the base Palissy, database of the French furniture patrimony of the French ministry of culture,&#160;under the reference&#160;PM72000229. беларуская (тарашкевіца)‎&#160;| brezhoneg&#160;| català&#160;| Deutsch&#160;| English&#160;| español&#160;| suomi&#160;| français&#160;| magyar&#160;| italiano&#160;| македонски&#160;| Plattdüütsch&#160;| português&#160;| українська&#160;| +/−
context_page_description: The Trinity is most commonly seen in Christian art with the Holy Spirit represented by a dove, as specified in the gospel accounts of the baptism of Christ; he is nearly always shown with wings outspread. However depictions using three anthropomorphic figures appear occasionally in most periods of art.
  The Father and the Son are usually differentiated by age, and later by dress, but this too is not always the case. The usual depiction of the Father as an older man with a white beard may derive from the biblical Ancient of Days, which is often cited in defense of this sometimes controversial representation. However, in Eastern Orthodoxy the Ancient of Days is usually understood to be God the Son, not God the Father—early Byzantine images show Christ as the Ancient of Days, but this iconography became rare. When the Father is depicted in art, he is sometimes shown with a halo shaped like an equilateral triangle, instead of a circle. The Son is often shown at the Father's right hand. He may be represented by a symbol—typically the Lamb or a cross—or on a crucifix, so that the Father is the only human figure shown at full size.
context_section_description: Especially in the 15th century, and in the less public form of illuminated manuscripts, there was experimentation with many solutions to the issues of depicting the three persons of the Trinity. The depiction of the Trinity as three identical persons is rare, because each person of the Trinity is considered to have distinct attributes. Nonetheless, the earliest known depiction of God the Father as a human figure, on the 4th century Dogmatic Sarcophagus, shows the Trinity as three similar bearded men creating Eve from Adam, probably with the intention of affirming the consubstantiality recently made dogma in the Nicene Creed. There are many similar sarcophagi, and occasional images at intervals until a revival of the iconography in the 15th century. The depiction was finally formally condemned by Pope Benedict XIV in the 18th century.  Even rarer is the depiction of the Trinity as a single anthropoid figure with three faces (Latin "Vultus Trifons"), because the Trinity is defined as three persons in one Godhead, not one person with three attributes (this would imply Modalism, which is defined as heresy in traditional Orthodox Christianity). Such "Cerberus" depictions of the Trinity as three faces on one head were mainly made among Catholics during the 15th to 17th centuries, but were condemned after the Catholic Council of Trent, and again by Pope Urban VIII in 1628, and many existing images were destroyed.
  The Trinity may also be represented abstractly by symbols, such as the triangle (or three triangles joined together), trefoil or the triquetra—or a combination of these. Sometimes a halo is incorporated into these symbols. The use of such symbols are often found not only in painting but also in needlework on tapestries, vestments and antependia, in metalwork and in architectural details.
caption: Stained glass window depicting the Trinity in three persons. Saint Martin church, Courgenard, France.
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