Die „bärtigen Jungfrauen". Das Gleichnis von den zehn Jungfrauen (Mt 25,1-13) in Armenien zwischen Exegese und Kunst (The "Bearded Virgins": The Parable of the Ten Virgins in Armenia between Exegesis and Art)

Pane, Riccardo · 2025

Traces the Armenian exegesis of the parable of the ten virgins from the fifth to the fourteenth century, identifying its Greek sources while highlighting what is distinctively Armenian in it. Pane then turns to two unusual works in which the virgins are depicted as men: a bas-relief at Hovhannavank monastery and a miniature by the copyist Yovsian. Beyond the liturgical and eschatological readings proposed in recent scholarship, he argues that the explanation for these 'bearded virgins' lies in the continuous Armenian exegetical tradition, which reinterpreted the parable with reference to the spirituality of male monastic communities.

Citation checked against the publisher's record on 2026-07-13.