Red-haired Trinities

The Trifacial Trinity (also known as the tricephalous Trinity or vultus trifrons) is a distinct iconography in Christian art depicting the Holy Trinity. It typically presents God as a single body with three heads or, more commonly, a single head with three fused faces. Emerging in the 12th century, this imagery attempted to visually represent the Christian dogma of one God in three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), but was eventually condemned by the Catholic Church for being "monstrous" and prone to pagan or diabolical misinterpretation.

Trifacial Trinity   The Trinity in Art

Here are some examples of red-haired Trinities.

Church of Santa Maria Assunta in the town of Armeno (province of Novara, Piedmont, near the Lake Orta). Here we have one body and three separate heads.

Church of San Michele in San Salvi (Florence). Detail of a fresco of the Last Supper (1519) by Andrea del Sarto. Here the whole fresco.

Basilica of San Pietro in Perugia

The author of the fresco is unknown (it is probably after the school of Giotto). This is sometimes considered to be a “feminine” Trinity, since the features of the three heads are very delicate and it looks like the beard has been added afterwards.

Church of Santa Maria della Colombata in Perugia

Rocca di Vignola (province of Modena, Emilia-Romagna). Frescoes by Maestro di Vignola .

Church of San Pietro in Benna (province of Biella, Piedmont).

In the chapel that closes the left nave, beneath a terracotta frieze, we find a (rather rare) depiction of the Trinity in the form of a triple figure of Christ blessing. Flanking it are figures of saints (Saint Anthony Abbot and Saint Peter) and female saints (Saint Lucy and Saint Apollonia). These are frescoes by the school of Defendente Ferrari, dating to around 1535.

Monastery of St Peter and Paul, Castelletto Cervo (province of Biella, Piedmont).

Again the triple figure of Christ blessing.