Trinity

== Artistic depictions ==
{{Main|Trinity in art}}
The Trinity is most commonly seen in [[Christian art]] with the Spirit represented by a dove, as specified in the Gospel accounts of the [[Baptism of Jesus|Baptism of Christ]]; he is nearly always shown with wings outspread. However depictions using three human figures appear occasionally in most periods of art.{{sfn|Schiller|1971|loc=figs 1; 5–16}}

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 (''see below'')—early [[Byzantine]] images show Christ as the Ancient of Days,{{sfn|Cartlidge|Elliott|2001|p=240}} but this [[iconography]] became rare. When the Father is depicted in art, he is sometimes shown with a [[Halo (religious iconography)|halo]] shaped like an [[equilateral triangle]], instead of a circle. The Son is often shown at the Father's right hand (Acts 7:56). He may be represented by a symbol—typically the Lamb ({{lang|la|[[agnus dei]]}}) or a cross—or on a [[crucifix]], so that the Father is the only human figure shown at full size. In early medieval art, the Father may be represented by a hand appearing from a cloud in a blessing gesture, for example in scenes of the [[Baptism of Jesus|Baptism of Christ]]. Later, in the West, the Throne of Mercy (or "Throne of Grace") became a common depiction. In this style, the Father (sometimes seated on a [[throne]]) is shown supporting either a [[crucifix]]{{sfn|Schiller|1971| pp= 122–124 and figs 409–414}} or, later, a slumped crucified Son, similar to the [[Pietà]] (this type is distinguished in German as the {{lang|de|Not Gottes}}),{{sfn|Schiller|1971|pp= 219–224 and figs 768–804}} in his outstretched arms, while the Dove hovers above or in between them. This subject continued to be popular until the 18th century at least.

By the end of the 15th century, larger representations, other than the Throne of Mercy, became effectively standardised, showing an older figure in plain robes for the Father, Christ with his torso partly bare to display the wounds of his [[Passion (Christianity)|Passion]], and the dove above or around them. In earlier representations both Father, especially, and Son often wear elaborate robes and crowns. Sometimes the Father alone wears a crown, or even a [[papal tiara]].

In the later part of the [[Christian Era]], in Renaissance European iconography, the [[Eye of Providence]] began to be used as an explicit image of the Christian Trinity and associated with the concept of [[Divine Providence]]. Seventeenth-century depictions of the Eye of Providence sometimes show it surrounded by clouds or [[sunburst]]s.{{sfn|Potts|1982|pp=68–78}}

=== Image gallery ===
<gallery>
File:France Paris St-Denis Trinity-CROPPED.jpg|Depiction of Trinity from [[Saint Denis Basilica]] in Paris (12th century)
File:Llanbeblig Hours (f. 4v.) God, The Holy Spirit, and Christ Crucified.jpg|The Father, The Holy Spirit, and Christ crucified, depicted in a [[Wales|Welsh]] manuscript {{circa|1390–1400}}
File:Lucas Cranach d. Ä. - Trinity - WGA05656.jpg|The Holy Trinity in an angelic glory over a landscape, by [[Lucas Cranach the Elder]] (d. 1553)
File:Francesco Albani - Baptism of Christ.jpg|God the Father (top), and the Holy Spirit (represented by a dove) depicted above Jesus Painting by [[Francesco Albani]] (d. 1660)
File:MurilloTrinity.jpg|God the Father (top), the Holy Spirit (a dove), and the child Jesus, painting by [[Bartolomé Esteban Murillo]] (d. 1682)
File:Giovanni Battista Tiepolo 016.jpg|Pope [[Clement I]] prays to the Trinity, in a typical post-Renaissance depiction by [[Gianbattista Tiepolo]] (d. 1770)
File:Fridolin Leiber - Holy Trinity.jpg|Atypical depiction  The Son is identified by a lamb, the Father an [[Eye of Providence]], and the Spirit a dove; the painting is by [[Fridolin Leiber]] (d. 1912). 
File:Roman de la Rose f. 138r (The Trinity).jpg|13th-century depiction of the Trinity from a {{Lang|fro|[[Roman de la Rose]]}} manuscript
File:Trinity by Jeronimo Cosida.jpg|Renaissance painting by [[Jerónimo Cosida]] depicting Jesus as a [[triple deity]]  Inner text: The Father is God; the Son is God; the Holy Spirit is God 
File:EpitaphDreieinigkeit-BremerDom.jpg|Representation of the Trinity in the form of the [[mercy seat]] (epitaph from 1549)
</gallery>