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Document Details : Title: L'épître 17/77 de Grigor Magistros Subtitle: Une description de la cathédrale Sainte-Sophie de Constantinople? Author(s): AREVSHATYAN, Anna S. Journal: Revue des Études Arméniennes Volume: 43 Date: 2025 Pages: 247-256 DOI: 10.2143/REA.43.0.3295025 Abstract : In a letter 17 (77) addressed to his son-in-law (Toṙnik Mamikonean), on the occasion of the feast of the Inauguration of the Church, Grigor Magistros recalls a well-known episode in the Christianisation of Armenia, in which the Illuminator has a vision of an angel ordering him to found the martyrium of John the Baptist and Athenogenes, whose relics he brings back. In fact, this prestigious place, mentioned by Agathangelos, is not exactly known. As a result, Magistros probably never visited it. We can therefore assume that his description is based on the model he once had before his eyes, the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, the main temple of the Christian world at the time. Moreover, one of the miniatures in manuscript M6988 (copied in 1763-1764), which contains the complete works of Magistros, depicts a magnificent church, near which he is standing. This may be an allusion to the poetic contest held at Hagia Sophia, where the Armenian scholar defeated the Arab poet Manučē by writing the entire Bible in verse. |
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