Pacheco relates a remarkable effect produced by a picture from the
pencil of Methodius, who resided at Constantinople about 854. He was
invited to Nicopolis by Bogoris, king of the Bulgarians, to decorate a
banqueting-hall in his palace. That prince left the choice of his
subject to the artist, limiting him to those of a tragic or terrible
character. The sister of Bogoris, during a long captivity at
Constantinople, had become a convert to the Greek church, and greatly
desired that her brother should renounce paganism; therefore it was
probably at her instance, in this case, that Methodius painted the Last
Judgment. He succeeded in depicting the glories of the blessed and the
pains of the damned in such a fearful manner, that the heathen king was
induced in his terror to send for a Bishop, and signify his willingness
to unite with the Greek church; and the whole Bulgarian nation soon
followed his example.