"Why not icons?", he asked the metropolitan of Nikomedia. He had sacrilegiously stolen many from sanctuaries and escaped, though when later suspected he swore he had not [an honest confession, or is there a concealed meaning?]. He told the metropolitan he liked these dim pictures, which showed the painter's art. Having a collection of panels, few with gold or silver, like new senators without badges, it was easy to give them up. In another text (not a letter) he boasted he was a conoisseur of icons. But he was deeply impressed by one icon of the Theotokos, the glory of the monastery of Kathara. He discussed it, concentrating more on his reception of its beauty than details of what he saw