The icon, known as the Holy Trinity, was relocated to a room on the grounds of the monastery, RBC reported, citing a source in the professional community and another at the lavra. The display case was moved to workshops on the monastery grounds, and one of the sources said it may need repairs.
The Moscow Patriarchate said a "scheduled verification of the icon's state of preservation" was under way. The Russian Orthodox Church said its agreement with the Tretyakov Gallery allows the Trinity to be temporarily removed from its case for such a check.
An RBC source at the lavra said the condition of the icon itself gave no cause for concern. Art historian Ksenia Korobeynikova wrote on her Telegram channel that the damage to the display case was "not critical, the way they're blowing it up out of proportion."
The outlet Ekho, citing a source, reported earlier that the climate-controlled display case had not been working for several months. Humidity inside reached 80% against a recommended 50-55%. According to the source, a specialist from Germany tried to repair the chamber, but it broke down again a few hours later, and he cannot be invited back because of difficulties with international cooperation.
The same source said that because of the high humidity the icon's wooden boards are swelling, the gaps between them have almost disappeared, and the Trinity itself has begun to warp. The Patriarchate has not commented on that information.
Ekho noted that the icon was taken out of the iconostasis the day after the article about the faulty display case was published.
The icon, painted between 1422 and 1427, was kept by the Tretyakov Gallery for almost 100 years. In the spring of 2023, Vladimir Putin issued a decree transferring it to the Russian Orthodox Church, after which the work was brought to the lavra. Art historians warned at the time that ensuring proper storage conditions would be difficult and that the icon could be damaged.