Santa Hripsimè

Tela ( acrilico) cm. 30 x 40

S. Hripsimè arrivò in Armenia con le altre monache al seguito della Badessa Gayanè per sfuggire all’imperatore romano che la voleva sposare. Ma anche il re  armeno Trdat , incaricato dai romani di rimandare Hripsimè a Roma, si innamorò di lei e torturò la  Badessa Gayanè affichèconvincesse Hripsimè a cedere alle sue lusinghe. Fu tutto vano e Trdat fece uccidere dopo atroci tormenti Hripsimè, Gayanè e tuttle le 37 monache.

According to tradition, the Hripsimian sisterhood was whome to 37 virgins who lived as hermits in a Roman  monastery about 300 A.D. The Roman emperor saw a painting of Hripsime and fell desperately in love with her, vowing to make her his wife.

Not wanting to break her vows by being forced to marry the emperor, Hripsime and the other sisters followed their leader, Gayane, out of Rome.  They ended up in Armenia.  The Roman emperor asked Armenia’s King Drtad to hunt for them and return the woman he wanted to marry.

Armenian soldiers found the women, but instead of sending Hripsime back to Rome, King Drtad fell for her beauty and decided she should be his wife.  She quickly declined and so the King pressured Gayane to convince Hripsime to marry him.

Instead of pushing Hripsime toward marriage, Gayane told her to stand firm in her faith and vow of chastity.  So, King Drtad had Gayiane tortured.  Still, she refused to encourage Hripsime to marry.

Because she continued to decline marriage, the King’s forces cruelly tortured and eventually killed Hripsime, as well as the other sisters.  The Armenian forces cut out their tongues, pinned them to the ground, burned their bodies, tore them open with stones, and pierced their eyes.