THE REVEREND FATHER LORENZO

ALTICOTIO

OF CORTONA

A HISTORICAL-CRITICAL

DISSERTATION

CONCERNING THE ANCIENT AND NEW MANICHAEANS.

Manichaeism was a major dualistic religion that taught a struggle between a good spiritual world of light and an evil material world of darkness. St. Augustine was famously a member before converting to Christianity and later became its most famous critic.

A copperplate engraving depicting an allegorical scene of religious triumph. A bearded saint, likely St. Augustine, is seated in the center wearing episcopal robes, holding a quill and a crozier. He rests his foot upon a prostrate figure representing heresy. To his left, a winged child points to an open book held by the saint, which bears a quote from Augustine's "Confessions": "O Eternal Truth and True Charity and Dear Eternity. Confessions, Book 10." original: "O Æterna Veritas et Vera Caritas et Cara Æternitas." In the lower left, another figure lies among books labeled "MANICHAEANS", "DONATISTS", and "PELAGIANS". These represent the three major groups Augustine wrote against: the dualist Manichaeans, the schismatic Donatists of North Africa, and the Pelagians, who disagreed on the nature of grace and free will. In the upper left, the Eye of Providence shines from within a triangle. Below the frame, artist signatures read: "Joseph Migliaccio designed it", "Carlo Grandi engraved it, 1762", and "With permission of the superiors."