For the scene where the cow is on fire, it was covered in an asbestos coat that protected it from actually being burned. But for the scene where the horse falls down the stairs, it was shot in the neck by director Andrei Tarkovsky. The crew acquired the horse from a slaughterhouse where it was going to be shot the next day.
Theophanes the Greek (c. 1340 - c. 1410) was a Greek artist from Constantinople and one of the greatest icon painters of Russia, and was noted as the teacher and mentor of Andrei Rublyov.
Selected by the Vatican in the "religion" category of its list of 45 "great films."
The movie was completed and shown to selected people in private screenings in the winter of 1966. The first official screening was in February 1969 in Moscow, followed by a screening at the Cannes film festival in May 1969. International distribution started in 1973.