The St. Paul Obnorsk (Pavlo-Obnorsky) Monastery. The Trinity Cathedral. 1500

The monastery was founded by St. Paul of Obnorsk, a disciple of St. Sergius of Radonezh on the River Obnora not far from Vologda with the blessing of the Metropolitan of Moscow Photius in 1414. The following is known about the life and death of St. Paul of Obnorsk. Paul was born in Moscow in the first half of the 14th century. From childhood he craved to be a monk. Soon he joined the cloister of St. Sergius of Radonezh where he lived as a hermit for 15 years. An advocate of silent contemplation, he wanted yet more seclusion: he wanted to settle down in deserted Volga forests. He begged his teacher to bless his hermitage in the wilderness.

On parting, Sergius blessed Paul and gave him a cross that he treasured all his life.

The biography of the saint testifies that during his wanderings he happened to live in a hole of a huge linden tree for three years and to meet well-known hermits of the time Avramy Chukhlomsky and Sergius of Obnorsk (Nurmsky).

Paul’s life in primeval forests won him a fame of a great hermit and attracted coenobites driven by an aspiration to save their soul. Eventually, the elder (starets) resolved to give up his hermetic life and set up a cloister.

The Saviour with Forces. Dionisy

So on the site of Paul’s hermitage, the Trinity Cathedral and monastery were built. At the end of his life, Paul felt an urgent need for silent calm. Having appointed his disciple as head of the cloister, he settled down on the other side of the Nurma River. The saint died on 10 January 1429. In the second half of the 19th century, this land was bought by the monastery and two memorial chapels were built: one, on the spot of Paul’s cell, where he prayed and the other, over the well, dug by him.

In 1500, Dionisy painted the iconostasis for the wooden Trinity Cathedral.

A carved inscription on the back of the central Deesis icon The Saviour in His Might says that “in the year of 7008 (1500) the Deesis, the Feasts and the Prophets were painted by Dionisy”. In 1505-1516, by the decree of Vassily III the original wooden cathedral was replaced with a stone one and Dionisy’s iconostasis was moved there.

Most of the old icons of the Trinity Cathedral have not survived. Only 4 icons have been preserved: The Saviour in His Might; The Crucifixion of the Feasts tier (both are in the Tretyakov Gallery); St. Thomas’s Protestation of the Feasts tier (The Russian State Museum) and The Dormition of the Theotokos of the Sovereign tier (The Vologda State Museum of History, Architecture and Art).

Most probably, Dionisy’s assistants, his sons, took part in painting the iconostasis of the St. Paul Obnorsk Monastery, only the Crucifixion is the unquestionable work of the master himself.

The Crucifixion. Dionisy

The exceptional quality of the icon and