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Treaty against iconoclasts by

Vardapet VERTANÈS

Albocicade presentation
Translation and annotations by Sirarpie der Nersessian

2024
Brief presentation

This little Armenian treatise against the iconoclasts, copied many times, was first printed in
1852, but as an appendix to a work of edification, it went almost unnoticed. A new
publication in 1927, based on another manuscript, also failed to attract the attention of the
public, even the learned. Finally, it was only in 1945 that this treatise received a French
translation, by Sirarpie der Nersessian, accompanied by a rich presentation.
And yet, even since then, it seems to struggle to be known, which is a great pity, since in
addition to its own qualities, if this text was really written by the scholar Vertanes, it would
be the oldest treatise against iconoclasts that has come down to us in any language, and this
predates the pressure of Muslim iconoclasm endorsed by the edict of the Caliph Yazid (723)
ordering the destruction of all images "whether in temples, churches or houses".
Indeed, an initial iconoclastic upsurge - albeit very marginal - had already manifested itself in
Armenia during the reign of Catholicos Moses II.
Thus, we read in a letter from vardapet Jean Mayragometsi incorporated in Moses
Kaghankatvatsi's History of the Albanians:

Then a priest named Hesu, together with Thaddaeus and Grigor, who were from the region of
the catholicos Moses, went from Dvin to the canton of Sot'k'; they lived in the desert, for they
were monks, and they began to teach that painted images in churches should be destroyed,
and that communion should not be accepted from secular priests.
There was unrest in the canton, and news of it reached the Catholicos Moses, who
immediately wrote to them, ordering them to come to him in all haste. But they did not obey
the order and, having left, went to live in the province of Artsakh. When the catholicos asked
the scholars the reason for these men's conduct, they replied that it was because of the error
of the Greeks, and then wrote a letter saying: Let no one dare destroy the images in the
churches.
And after the death of Catholicos Moses, and during the reign of Khosroes in Armenia, the
country was united and Abraham took his seat as Catholicos.

The Catholicosate of Moses II was precisely the time of Vertanes, and the "Letter" referred
to above could well be the treatise presented here, which would then predate 604. Indeed,
the vardapet Vertanes1 , a learned monk, poet, philosopher and eminent theologian, played
an important role in Armenian ecclesiastical history at the turn of the sixth and seventh
centuries. Initially bishop of Tsourtav, in the historic Armenian province of Gougark, a
Hellenophile in favor of the Council of Chalcedon, he became assistant to the catholicos
Moses II of Eghivard, himself strongly anti-Chalcedonian. Appointed locum tenens on the
death of the latter, he directed patriarchal affairs during the interregnum from 604 to 607.
After the election of Catholicos Abraham, he continued to take an active part in the
discussions sparked by the schism between the Armenian and Georgian churches.

It is Sirarpie der Nersessian's translation of this treatise that we present here.

We have kept the translation (correcting a few typos) and the notes, shortening some of
them slightly. We have also added a few brief notes on points developed in the commentary
accompanying the translation.

1 Vertanès the Grammarian or Vrt'anès K'ertoł or Vrťanes K'ert'ogh: in Armenian Վրթանես Քերթող.
However, it should be noted once again that it is the whole article, richly documented on
ancient iconoclasm, particularly in Armenia, that should be read to truly enjoy it.
We therefore indicate this source precisely.

"Une apologie des images, du septième siècle",

translation and commentary by Sirarpie der
Nersessian, in Byzantion,
Vol. 17 (1944-1945),
pp. 58-87
On the other hand, the only site (as far as we know) where this article can be consulted is
the very academic JStor, which usually charges a fee, but where it is possible to consult up to
100 articles per month free of charge, subject to registration... also free of charge.

The full article is available online at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44168582

TRANSLATION

All creatures are illumined by the life-giving light, and heaven and earth rejoice, illuminated
by its rays, for the light of truth has flooded the whole universe with its brightness. The dark
fog that covered dark and hardened hearts has dissipated, and the world is filled with the
teaching that makes God known.
But the proponents of obscure studies, who wander vainly in the dark darkness, tremble,
confounded; they vilely deceive the hearts of the innocent, and they introduce heresies into
the Church. Paintings and images, they say, must not be placed in churches; and they bring
as testimony words from the Old Testament that were spoken about the idolatry denounced
by the prophets.
But our images2 are not like them, for they relate to Christ and his elect; and this is not only
the truth but is testified to us by the scriptures. And we will say what the historians of the
commandments have taught us.
For Moses was the first to make the model of the images for the altar: two winged cherubim,
in human form, made of hammered gold and placed above the mercy seat; and the Lord of
Lords spoke from among them3 . The apostle confirms this with his testimony. "The cherubim
of glory," he says, "which covered the mercy seat."4 This is the image of the great mystery.
Likewise the curtain that God says to make with multicolored silks, images, and to embellish,
in various ways, (this veil) which is of fine linen and purple, red and azure; were not the
colors of the curtain's threads pigments, and were not the curtain's cherubim images5 ?
Following the same pattern, Solomon made the cherubim of the temple from cypress wood,
and overlaid them with gold; and not only did he make the cherubim that were in the oracle, but
he carved the walls, the doors, the pavements, with sculptures, cherubim, palms and flower
buds in full bloom6 . And God did not disapprove and called it the temple of his name.
The inspired prophet Ezekiel, in the vision he saw, not as another of the prophets or oracles,
but speaking with divine revelation, says: "The Lord set me down in a city on a high
mountain, and he led me into it, and I saw there an altar and a fearful and wonderful man.
Lightning flashed like brass; and he stood over the gate, and he had in his hand a linen cord
and a measuring rod, and he said to me, Son of man, look and hold all that is here, for I have
come to show them to you. And I saw the temple painted all around, inside and out, with
cherubim and palms, from the floor to the roof. And it was not only the temple that was
painted, but also the courtyards, the gates and the altar; and there were cherubim in human
form, two by two, which is the model of great wonders7 ."
What will you say about this, O man, you who are sick in spirit, for I said about the cherubim
that Moses and Solomon had made that they were made by human hands; do you consider as
made what God had shown them? Behold, it is clear that from the beginning images were
made for the honor and veneration of the divine glory.

And in the New Testament Paul says to the Athenians: "As I passed by and looked at your
gods, I found an altar on which was written To the unknown god. The one you honor without
knowing him is the one I am announcing to you"8 . Was God the altar? But Paul
2 The word image is not found in the text, which says only: "but ours."
3 Exodus, XXV, 18-22
4 Epistle to the Hebrews, IX, 5
5 Exodus, XXVI, 31; XXXVI, 8 and 35
6 1 Kings, VI, 23-35
7 Ezekiel, XL, 2-4; XLI, 18-20. These passages, like all those in the Bible, are quoted from memory and do not

correspond exactly to the biblical text.

8 Acts of the Apostles, XVII, 23
testifies that they honored him in the name of God. And we do not say that images and
paintings are the true God, but we paint them in the name of God, as he appeared, the one
whom Isaiah said would be born, and Jeremiah that he would circulate among men, the one
whose passion and burial David foretold, whose resurrection Ezekiel and Hosea predicted,
whose second coming Daniel and Zechariah predicted, whose judgment Nahum and Malachi
predicted. For they have told us by symbols; and he is he who was; and he is he who is to be.
And we paint that which is written in the Holy Scriptures; and writing is a pigment and the
material of images.

The Fathers of the Church also speak of images.

For example, John bishop of Constantinople, in his address to the baptized, and a little further
on he says: "For example, the bronze statues of kings are inanimate and insensible; those who
take refuge with them are protected not because these statues are made of bronze, but because
they are the portrait of the emperor"9 . And you, heretic, hear it this way. Again in this
discourse where he says that we must not suppress the titles of the holy scriptures, he adds:
"Do you not see, in the images of kings, that the portrait of the king is placed at the top, and
bears his name, and below, on the base, are inscribed the deeds of the king, his triumphs, his
justice? The same thing can be seen on the parchments: the king's portrait is traced above
and, below, his virtues and all his victories"10 . Or how about the image of the Lord that the
pious King Abgar had painted in the very sight of Christ and which, it is said, is now in the
great church of Edessa?
And Bishop Severian says: "When the king is absent and his portrait occupies the king's place,
princes prostrate themselves and celebrate the feasts; if peasants see him they also prostrate
themselves, considering not the wood but the king's portrait; they don't consider the
substance but what is traced by the pen. And if the portrait of the mortal king thus takes on
such power, how much more the form and image of the immortal king"11 .
Listen, then, to what I say, for they are the doctors of the Church, and if you will study their
works, you will see that they say the same thing.
Similarly, St Gregory, the Illuminator of the Armenians, says in his prayer. "Instead of wooden
idols he set up his cross in the middle of the universe, and because men are in the habit of
bowing down before the inanimate images of the dead, he himself became a dead image. He
died and gave up his soul on the cross so that they might learn to bow down before the wood
of the cross, and the image of the human figure that is on it; so that he who makes images, he
who loves them, and he who worships them, might obey the image of his divinity"12 .

Now, if you do not believe my words, you should examine the scriptures and understand
them, but you are as far from the scriptures as heaven from earth. Many other testimonies
are found in the scriptures, for all is visible to those who wish to understand, for the ears

9 I have not found this passage among the homilies of St. John Chrysostom. It was quoted by St. John Damascene
in the Sacra Parallela (Migne, P. G., XCVI, 17 A), and, according to the index, is borrowed from a homily Ad
recens baptizatos (νεοφωτιςτους), as is also stated in our text (Migne, P. G., XCIV,49); but the passage in
question is not found in the sermons προς τους μελλοντας φωτιζεσθαι (P. G XLIX, 223-240), nor elsewhere, as
far as can be seen by consulting the index of the writings of St. John Chrysostom.
10 Migne, P. G. LI, 71-72. The quotation follows almost exactly the text of the Armenian translation: Homélies de

Jean Chrysostome (Venice, 1861), p. 287.

11 Migne, P. G., XCIV, 1409A. This passage is taken from the Homily on the Holy Cross, which does not

appear among the homilies translated into Armenian that have come down to us. But we do know, from
quotations by the catholicos John of Odsun and Nerses the Gracious, that other homilies by Severian of
Gabala had been translated into Armenian. Fr. Jo. Baptista Aücher, Severiani sive Seberiani Gabalorum
episcopi Emensis Homiliae nunc primům editae ex antiqua versione armena et in latinům sermonem
translatae (Venice, 1827), pp. XVIII-XIX.
12 History ďAgaťangeghos (Venice, 1862). The quotation combines several passages; see pp. 71 and 72. This

prayer by St. Gregory the Illuminator was quoted by Patriarch Nicephorus. J. B. Pitra, Spicilegium Solesmense,
(Paris, 1852), I, 499-501.
hear and the spirits understand, and without the eyes of the spirit the eyes of the body
remain blind. But what is astonishing is that you accept the commandments and persecute
the Lord; you bow down before the symbol13 and stone the king; you honor the cross and
outrage the crucified.
This is how the Manichaeans and Marcianists14 acted, considering the Lord who really took
body as an appearance, and when they see images of him they get angry and, becoming
furious, they insult them15 . Have you not seen, having studied and examined the prophets,
that they spoke out against idolatry because the idols of the pagans are demons16 , but nowhere
is it written that the images of churches or Christians were called demons; it was the idols
that were condemned.
In Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, in the seventh book and seventeenth chapter17 , mention
is made of the great wonders accomplished by our Lord in the city of Paneada. "Since I have
mentioned this city," he says, "it would not be right to pass over its account, for it is worthy of
remembrance for those who will come after us. The young woman whose blood flowed, as we
learned from the holy gospel, and who was healed of her ailments by our Savior, was from
this town, and her house could be seen in this town; and the grace of charity bestowed on this
woman by our Savior, and the monument of the miracle, can be seen to this day. Indeed, on a
stone raised at the gate of her house is the brazen image of a woman kneeling, hands
stretched out in front, like a suppliant. And opposite her is another brazen image of a man
standing, draped in a cloak and extending his hand to the woman. And at his feet, rising
higher than the tunic, grows a plant differing in sight from all plants, and it reaches up to the
hem of his tunic, and is a medicine for all diseases. This statue, it is said, is the image of our
Savior; it has remained to this day, and we saw it with our own eyes when we came to this
city. And there is nothing greater than this, that pagans believed in Jesus Christ, and painted
with colors the images of Paul and Peter and Christ himself, and they remain to this day."
Have you not seen these writings, O friend, who oppose the commandments of God? I say
friend, not because of the orthodoxy of your faith, but because of what we heard from our
Lord; friend, for whom he came. But if you have read and do not know, in you is confirmed
the word of the apostle who says, among other things: "to the unbelievers whose minds the
God of this age has blinded, so t h a t they were not enlightened by the light of the glorious
gospel of the

13 In other words, the cross.

14 The Jerusalem text refers to the Marcionites; the Venice text to the Marcianists. I have adopted the second
form, even though the Marcionites are usually named with the Manichaeans, and in the anathemas pronounced
by Armenian councils the name Marcion almost always accompanies that of Manes. As the Marcionites are
better known, a copy error transforming Marcianists into Marcionites seems more likely than the reverse. The
Marcianists are heretics known above all as Messalians or Euchites; they have sometimes been called
Marcianists after one of their leaders, a money-changer named Marcianus who lived at the time of the
emperors Justinian and Justin (Timothy, "De receptione haereticorum, Migne P. G. LXXXVI, 45).
15 The ancient Manichaeans were not opponents of images; on the contrary, painting was one of their means of

propaganda (Fliehe and Martin, Church History, II, 315). But medieval writers, and iconophiles in particular,
called them iconoclasts. At the Second Council of Nicaea, Patriarch Taraise said. "We have discovered that the
Manichaeans do not accept images either, nor do the Marcionites and those who confuse the natures of Christ"
(Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, XII, 1031E). This accusation recurs several times,
with the Manichaeans mentioned among the opponents of images, along with the Jews, Samaritans and
Phantasiasts (Mansi, XIII, 157E, 173C, 196E).
16 The author is no doubt thinking of Psalm XCVI, 5, "because all the gods of the nations are demons." From the

earliest centuries, Christians accused pagans of worshipping demons, believing that the latter inhabited idols. See
the passages by Athenagoras and Minutius Felix quoted in Edwyn Bevan, Holy Images (London, 1940), pp. 92-
93. John of Odsun expressly states that demons inhabit idols and quotes Psalm XCVI.5 (Opera, pp. 90- 91).
17 This passage is actually in chapter 18.
Christ"18 . But if you have read, you should seek and study, know good and evil, distinguish
what comes from God from what comes from the devil.

Don't you know that in the temples of idols we find carved Ormizd, who is Aramazd19 , his
fornications and sorceries? But in the churches of God, we see painted the Blessed Virgin,
carrying on her knees Christ, who is at once her creator, her son, and the creator of all.
In the temples of the idols we see Anahit20 , his impurities and seductions; while in the
churches of the Christians and in the homes of God's martyrs, we see painted Saint Gregory,
his God-pleasing torments and holy virtues, the protomartyr Stephen in the midst of the
stoners ; the blessed and glorious Saint Gayané and Saint Hrip'simé21 with all their
companions and the glorious martyrs; as well as other virtuous and respectable men of angelic
piety whom we cannot enumerate.
In the temples we see Astghik and Aphrodite22 , whom all pagans call the mother of desires,
and their many drunkenness and debaucheries; while in the churches of God, we see the
divine cross, the cohort of apostles bearing the cross, and the prophets who did away with
impiety, and spread the worship of God throughout the universe, and confounded the devil
and his legions.
For in the churches of God we see painted all the wonders of Christ, as told in the scriptures,
and which, as we previously mentioned, were foretold to us by the prophets; I mean the
birth, baptism, passion and crucifixion, burial, resurrection and ascension into heaven23 .
Everything the scriptures tell us is painted in the churches.

18 II Corinthians IV, 4.
19 Aramazd, the Ahura Mazda of the Zend Avesta, whose name the author also gives after one of the Iranian
forms, Ormizd, was the principal deity of pagan Armenia. He was called "the father of all gods," "the great and
strong Aramazd, creator of heaven and earth," and his statues adorned the fort of Ani, burial place of the kings
of Armenia (Agathange, "Histoire du règne de Tiridate," in Collection des historiens anciens et modernes de
l'Arménie, published by Victor Langlois, Paris, 1867, I, 127, 120, 167). Moses of Khorene calls him "the god of
Thunder" (Langlois, op. cit., II, 126).
20 The goddess Anahit, daughter of Aramazd, was as important as her father. She is the noble lady, "the glory

and life of our nation, who has been honored by all kings and in particular by the king of the Greeks; for she is
the mother of all science, benefactress of mankind, and daughter of the great and strong Aramazd."
(Aganthange in Langlois, op. cit., 1, 127). She is "the great goddess" who "vivifies and protects Armenia" (Ibid.,
pp. 128, 129). Her main altars were in the city of Erez, now Erzinjan, and her golden statue, described by Pliny,
earned her the nicknames "created of gold" and "mother of gold" (Ibid., p. 168).
21 Saints Gaïané and Hripsimé are two famous nuns martyred by King Tiridate IV in 301. Along with St Gregory

the Illuminator, who led Tiridate to conversion, they are the three most representative saints of the Armenian
Church.
22 The goddess Astghik, less important than the two preceding deities, is identified by Agathange with the

Aphrodite of the Greeks (Langlois, op. cit., p. 173); she had her temple at Achtichat, in the canton of Taron,
near those of Vahak'n and Anahit {Ibid, p. 173); Moses of Khorene, following "his dear Berosian Sibyl, more
truthful than many historians," says she was the sister of Titan, Zerouan and Japhetos (Langlois, op. cit., II, 59-
60).
23 This long list of subjects depicted in churches is of great importance for the question of decoration in ancient

Armenian churches, and will be discussed below. A similar enumeration of subjects is found in the first discourse of
John Damascene. He says that, Christ having assumed human form, we can depict "his virgin birth, his baptism in
the Jordan, his transfiguration on Mount Tabor, his omnipotent sufferings, his death and miracles, proofs of his
divinity, the deeds he performed through his divine power, the savior cross, his burial, his resurrection, his
ascension into heaven" (P. G., XCIV, 1240A-B). In a more concise form, a similar enumeration had already been
made by Gregory the Great in his letter to Bishop Secundinus. "Et nos quidem non quasi ante divinitatem ante
illam prosternimur, sed ilium adoramus quem per imaginem aut natum, aut passum, sed in throno sedentem
recordamur. Et dum nobis ipsa pietura quasi scriptura ad memoriam Filium Dei reducit, animum nostrum aut
de resurrectione laetificat, aut de passione demulcet" (Migne, P. L., LXXVII, 991). A longer list can be found in
letters from Pope Gregory II to Patriarch Germain (Mansi, XIII, 96 A-C), and to Emperor Leo III (Mansi, XII,
967). For the authenticity of the letter to the emperor, see G. Ostrogorsky, "Les débuts
Aren't books written with pigment? The same things are painted with pigment. In church
only the ears hear the scriptures, but the images are seen with the eyes and heard with the
ears, and understood with the heart, and believed24 .
Behold, it is evident that it is not contrary to Scripture to venerate images, and whoever
examines carefully comes to the truth, and discovers that they are in error the heretics who
argue and say: we consider them vile because they are without speech and without
understanding.

Was the ark of God speaking when it overthrew Dagon and Azót and the city of Ascalon by
the blows of foreigners, so much so that the inhabitants of Ascalon protested and said, "Why
has the ark of the God of Israel returned to us, to lose us and our people?"25
Did the cross of Christ speak when it raised the dead in the holy city26 , and performed many
miracles to this day; the cross that is the pride of angels, the salvation of men, and the terror
of demons?
And now new commandments, joined to the old, bring us witness through the grace of Christ.
For we see the book of the gospels painted with gold and silver and, moreover, bound with
ivory and purple parchment. And when we bow before the holy gospel, or kiss it, we do not
bow before ivory and lacquer, brought for sale from the land of the barbarians, but before the
word of the Saviour written on parchment27 . In the same way, when the Lord of glory,
seated on the donkey, approached the city, old men and children went out to meet him,
bearing olive branches and palms; and they praised him and bowed down; yet they did not
bow down before the donkey, but before Christ, the Son of God who was seated on the
donkey28 . So it's not because of the colors that we bow before the images, but because of
Christ, in whose name they were painted.
What resemblance is there with the divine commandments concerning the impurities of the
pagans, because of which the pagans slander and introduce heresies that will lead them

de la querelle des images," Mélanges Charles Diehl (Paris, 1930), p. 246, and E. Caspar, "Papst Gregor II und der
Bilderstreit," Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte, LH (1933), 29-84.
24 These words could be seen as a distant, distorted echo of those of Saint Gregory of Nyssa: "the mute painting

speaks on the wall" (Migne, P. G., XLVI, 739). The main idea, that sight is superior to hearing, is also found in
the discourses of John Damascene. "We sanctify the noblest sense, which is sight. The image is a memory,
exactly what words are to the ear that hears them. The image is to the illiterate what the book is to the literate.
The image speaks to the sight as words speak to the ear, and it brings us understanding" (Migne, P.G. XCIV,
1248C). The usefulness of images as a means of instruction, so insisted upon by inconophiles, had already been
pointed out by St. Nil in his letter to the prefect Olympiodorus (Migne, P. G. LXXIX, 577), and by Gregory the
Great in his two letters to the bishop Serenus (Migne, P.L., LXXVII 1027- 8; 1128-1130. See also Dictionnaire de
Théologie Catholique, article "Images (culte des)," col. 797, 799.
25 1 Samuel V, 10
26 See St Helena's account of the Invention of the True Cross.
27 28 Before the iconoclasts, the Jews had already accused Christians of worshipping matter, and the

iconophiles used arguments found in the Discourses against the Jews, particularly those of Leonce, bishop of
Neapolis in Cyprus (Migne, P. G., XCIV, 1384 B-D; 1385A; 1388C). The catholicos John of Odsun, in his discourse
"Against the Paulicians", also rejects the accusation of worshipping matter and lists the objects venerated by
the Jews (Opera, p 96-97, 100-103). The custom of kissing the book of the Gospels also existed among the
Byzantines. Anastasius the Librarian describes a "656 conference of St. Maximus the Confessor with Theodore,
Maximus and all those present fell on their knees and kissed the Gospels" (Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique,
article "Images (culte des), col. 772." Cf. P. G., XC, 156 and 164.
28 These words could be compared to question 40 of the Quaestiones ad Antiochum ducem of the pseudo-

Athanasius, although the answer is different. Jews and pagans ask whether donkeys should be saluted and
venerated because Christ sat on the donkey (Migne, P. G. XXVIII, 621D-624A). See also G. Bardy, "Les Trophées
de Damas, controverse judéo-chrétienne du VIIe siècle," Patr. Orient, XV (1920), 249: "he sat on a donkey, and
we do not worship donkeys."
to their ruin, and those who listen to them, and that they will atone in the endless torments
of hell, along with all their followers? The blessed prophet Hosea spoke the truth against
them: "their scandal is in their ways, for they have planted folly in the house of God"29 . Or
that other prophet who said: "Woe to him who gives his companions troubled pleasures to
drink"30 . It is indeed through deception that they lead to sin those who have strayed from
the true faith, and who have strayed from the true mysteries.
But I'm going on, and I'm not going to shut up.

For example, if someone asks for the books that are in the cupboard and says: give me the
apostles, or Isaiah, or Jeremiah, does he mean Jeremiah, or the apostle himself, or the divine
commandments and their words that are written there31 ? And we remember in painting
their images, and him who sent them; and we do not say that it is God himself, but the
remembrance of God and his servants32 .
It was written that Pap introduced images into the churches. But everyone knows you're
lying33 . For until now, no one among the Armenians knew how to make images, but they
were brought from the Greeks, and our culture also came from them, and they were not
lost34 . And before Pap there were other kings, and they had images and paintings made in the
churches in the name of Christ. Again after Pap there were other kings among the
Armenians, and prelates like Blessed Saint Sahak, and Mesrop, and Eznik, and Ardzan, and
Koriun, and their companions, through whom letters were granted to the Armenians by God,
our Lord35 . None of them did anything concerning the images and paintings of the

29 Hosea, IX, 8
30 Habakkuk, II, 15
31 These words indicate that the books of the prophets once formed separate volumes. This ancient custom was

not preserved in Armenia, as the oldest Old Testament manuscripts we possess are written in minus cules
(bolorgir); but it survived in part in Byzantium, as can be seen from a manuscript of the book of Isaiah (Vatican.
gr. 755) and numerous copies of the Book of Job (Venice Marc. 588; Patmos 171; Sinai 8; Vat. gr. 7Ą9, 751,
1281; Paris, gr. 184, 185; Athos, Iviron 78). As for "apostles," the author is probably thinking of the Acts of the
Apostles, to which the Epistles were to be attached, a practice that remained common throughout the Middle
Ages.
32 The author repeats the argument he has already used, that the image is a memory. This had been said,

before the iconoclasts, by writers such as John of Thessalonica and Leonce of Cyprus in their speeches against
the Jews (Mansi, XIII, 164D; 44C-E; 45B; 53A. Migne, P. G., XCIV, 1409C; 1384C-1385A). Same thought in
the "Trophées de Damas," Bardy, loc. cit., pp. 248-249.
33 This violent protest is not simply the correction of an erroneous opinion, for even if it were true that images

were introduced by King Pap this would indicate an ancient practice, since Pap reigned from 369 to
374. The horror with which the author rejects the tradition reported by the Armenian iconoclasts suggests that
they had special reasons for tracing the introduction of images to Pap, as does the author for rejecting this
assertion. We find the explanation in the History of Faustus of Byzantium. Pap, Faustus tells us, was demon-
possessed, devoted to the most shameful practices, and had the catholicos Nerses poisoned because he
disapproved of his way of life. After Nerses' death, "several Armenian provinces and many of their inhabitants
returned to the old dev cult, and, with King Pap's consent, they erected idols in many places, for there was no one
to inspire fear or rebuke them. Everyone did as they pleased. Several statues had even been erected and were
openly worshipped" (Collection des historiens anciens et modernes de l'Arménie, published by V. Langlois, I,
295). Thus, by tracing church paintings back to King Pap, during whose reign the Armenians had returned to pagan
practices, the iconoclasts undoubtedly found an important argument for linking the worship of images to
idolatry.
34 The meaning of the sentence is unclear. If the pronoun (they or them) refers to the word images, we would

have to translate "the images were not lost"; if it refers to the Greeks, which seems more likely to us, we would
have to understand by this sentence that the Greeks were not in error.
35 Sahak and Mesrop are the inventors of the Armenian alphabet; the others are their pupils, the "first

translators" of the fifth century.

churches36 , but only the ungodly and misguided Thaddeus and Isaiah37 and their
companions, who led a great many people in their wake, such as yourselves. But though the
heretics' party shines for a while, it soon fades, for even the first sins were born of lies, as with
Adam, for these words do not come from me but from the holy scriptures, Old and New
Testament.
If you want to serve Christ God, and love his commandments, study the books of those
whose names are written here, and when you find them they will show you the true way to
God.
Enough about images, and that's enough for anyone who wants to understand.

As for those who say that pigments are vile, they accuse themselves out of their own
mouths, for the pigments used for writing are vitriol, gall and gum, which cannot be eaten;
while the materials used for images are milk, eggs, arsenic, azure, verdigris, lime and other
similar materials, some of which are used for food, others as medicine38 . But we do not call
vile what God has given to beautify the earth, nor do we despise it as something evil39 .
You say there comes a smell from the pigments; but if you're that pure and spiritual, you
should open your belly at prayer time, wash your bowels with boiling water, and then go into
church.
O wicked men, of boundless wickedness, who at times accuse pigments and paints, saying
they are made by man's hand and are not worthy of us. Churches too are made with hands,
and yet they are called the temple of God, as Paul said to Timothy "that you may know," he
said, "how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living
God, the pillar and support of the truth"40 .
What will you say to this, then, since the church is made by human hands41 ? For we know
the invisible by what is visible, and pigments and paints are the memory of the living God
and his servants.

36 Having invoked the authority of the Scriptures and the Church Fathers, and having mentioned the ancient
images or statues, it was natural to recall that the Armenian Church had never opposed the representation of
images. In the same way, John Damascene says that the prelates and kings who reigned up to that time, and all the
councils held up to that date, did nothing or said nothing against images (Migne, P. G. XCIV, 1280D-1281A). The
same arguments were presented at the Council of 787.
37 They could be Thadeus and Hesu, mentioned in the introduction, as the names Isaie and Hesu are often

confused in Armenian texts.

38 This passage is interesting for the composition of the ink and colors, but it leaves something to be desired as

an argument, since some of the materials used for the colors cannot be used for either food or medicine. I
transcribe the Armenian words with the corresponding Greek or Latin terms, according to the Armenian
Dictionary by G. Avedikian, Kh. Surmélian and M. Avgerian (Venice, 1836). The origin of several of these terms
was explained in the supplement to an article by Father Alichan on a treatise on painting (Handes Amsorya
1895, pp. 370-371). The article itself was translated into French by F. Macler, Documents d'art arméniens (Paris,
1924), pp. 17-23.
39 Same thought in the speeches of John Damascene: P. G., XCIV, 1245 D, 1297 B-1300 C, and in the "Trophées

de Damas," Bardy, loc. cit., p. 248.

40 1 Epistle to Timothy, III, 15.
41 All the defenders of the images cited examples of objects venerated by the iconoclasts, such as the cross,

which were also man-made. In addition, they mention objects venerated by the Jews, repeating and developing
what was already found in speeches against the Jews. Compare, for example, John Damascene,
P. G., XCIV, 1245 B-D, 1300 A-C, and Leonce of Cyprus, Ibid. 1385 A-B, 1273 A-C. The arguments of Leonce,
and other seventh-century writers, were taken up in the anti-Jewish discourses of later centuries, such as that of
Jerome of Jerusalem (P. G., XCIV, 1409), or the one attributed to Anastasius the Sinaitic, but now recognized as
a ninth-century work (P. G., LXXXIX, 1233). Pope Adrian's letter to Constantine and Irene contains an
enumeration of the objects venerated by the Jews, which seems to have been borrowed from a speech against
the Jews (Mansi, XII, 1070 A-B). The mention of the church, which is also handwritten, is found in
But you, proud of the devil, call your own persons holy, and resemble whitened sepulchres.
So he who wrote Proverbs spoke the truth. He says: "do not be excessively just, nor wise, lest
you pervert yourself"42 . And again: "an evil race thinks itself righteous"43 . So you take pride
in yourselves and, open-mouthed, you say the wrong thing.
As for us, we hasten to enter the church of Christ, day and night; praying early every day, so
as to fulfill the time of our exile, and be worthy to see God with a smiling face on the day of
judgment. For we long for his eternal goodness, for in him is glory for all eternity.
Amen.

in the Discourse against Constantine Copronymus (P. G. XCV, 325 A), and in Gregory II's second letter to Leo III
(Mansi, XII, 978 A).
42 Ecclesiastes VII, 17.
43 Proverbs, XXX, 12.