This icon, by the Orthodox Christian Saint Andrei Rublev, a younger contemporary of St. Sergius of Radonezh, dates to the 15th century. The icon expresses Orthodox Triadology, which differs from Western views of the Trinity reflecting the filioque in its privileging of a Father-Son combination subordinating the Holy Spirit, and thus instrumentalizing or objecting grace as “created,” unlike the emphasis on uncreated grace or energies in Orthodoxy. The three angels who visited Abraham serve as a type of the Christian Trinity, “one God in three persons.” Bowing yet equal, the three are in a circle, but not focused on any one. It was the central angel who is seen by Orthodox Christian commentary as a theophany or appearing of Christ before the Incarnation, alongside two angels acting as types of the other members of the Trinity (the interpretation of Genesis 18 in which the scene occurs includes phases of interpretation by the Church Fathers, some early writers viewing the three figures as angels, then a view of them as just described, and finally a view of them as a typology of the Trinity as a whole, although all those views are mystically compatible). The cup with what is seen as a calf’s head is on the altar-like table, while the shape of a chalice is formed by the silhouette of left and right angels in a silent dialogue of gestures. All this suggests the Christian Eucharist or Communion (the calf’s head associated with sacrifice). The left figure is viewed as a type of God the Father, the central figure a theophany of a pre-Incarnational Jesus Christ, and the right figure of the Holy Spirit. These are each associated with background symbols, of the house of the Father (in which Scripture says He has many mansions for the faithful), the tree (the Oak of Mamre, associated also with the Cross and the Tree of Life as a symbol of the Son), and the mountain behind the angel representing the Holy Spirit (perhaps indicating spiritual inspiration and faith; identified with Mount Moriah where Abraham offered Isaac and later the Temple Mount). Colors of the garb of the three figures also are symbolic. The blue robe of the Son symbolizes divinity, brown the earth or humanity, and gold the kingship of God. The blue of the figure representing the Holy Spirit likewise symbolizes divinity, and the green new life. The figure representing the Father seems clad in gold, a color of kingship, overlapping the blue color of divinity. Interestingly, neither Abraham nor Sarah are represented in this version of the scene from Genesis 18.

The small rectangle in the table has been identified by some art historians as a place for a small silver mirror, designed to include the viewer in the icon in effect. They cite remnants of glue in the location. However, other interpretations include that it was meant to represent the place for putting a relic in a consecrated Church altar table, and thus including in effect the saints.

The Oak of Mamre as at a definite place in the Holy Land is identified by tradition with a Church and Monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. A piece of the tree there is displayed with a carving of the icon of the Hospitality of Abraham at the entrance to the monastery building of Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Monastery and Seminary in Jordanville, NY, and was a gift to the monastery around 2007 from Russian President Vladimir Putin at the time of renewal of communion between the “Church Abroad,” which had gone into exile in 1920 in resistance to Communism, and the Moscow Patriarchate.