Iconoclasm
The word “icon” refers to many different things today. For example, we use this word to refer to the small graphic symbols in our software and to powerful cultural figures (here's a list of 300 "Cultural Icons").
Apa Abraham, c. 590-600, watercolor on panel, Egyptian (Bode Museum, Berlin)
Nevertheless, these different meanings retain a connection to the word's original meaning. “Icon” is Greek for “image” or
“painting” and during the medieval era, this meant a religious image on a
wooden panel used for prayer and devotion. More specifically, icons
came to typify the art of the Orthodox Christian Church.
“Iconoclasm” refers to the destruction of images or hostility toward
visual representations in general. In a more specificly, the word is
used for the Iconoclastic Controversy that shook the Byzantine Empire
for more than 100 years.
Open hostility toward religious representations began in 726 when
Emperor Leo III publicly took a position against icons; this resulted in
their removal from churches and their destruction. There had been many
previous theological disputes over visual representations, their
theological foundations and legitimacy. However, none of these caused
the tremendous social, political and cultural upheaval of the
Iconoclastic Controversy.
Christ Pantocrator (The Ruler of the Universe), Catacombs of Commodilla, 4th century
Some historians believe that by prohibiting icons, the Emperor sought to integrate Muslim and Jewish populations. Both Muslims and Jews perceived Christian images (that existed from the earliest times of Christianity) as idols and in direct opposition to the Old Testament prohibition of visual representations. The first commandment states,
You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image – any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth. You shall not adore them, nor serve them (Exodus 20:3-5).Another theory suggests that the prohibition was an attempt to restrain the growing wealth and power of the monasteries. They produced the icons and were a primary target of the violence of the Iconoclastic Controversy. Other scholars offer a less political motive, suggesting that the prohibition was primarily religious, an attempt to correct the wayward practice of worshiping images.
The trigger for Leo III’s prohibition may have even been the huge
volcanic eruption in 726 in the Aegean Sea interpreted as a sign of
God’s anger over the veneration of icons. There is no one simple answer
to this complex event. What we do know is that the prohibition
essentially caused a civil war which shook the political, social and
religious spheres of the empire. The conflict pitted the emperor and
certain high church officials (patriarchs, bishops) who supported
iconoclasm, against other bishops, lower clergy, laity and monks, who
defended the icons.
Khludov Psalter (detail), 9th century. The image represents the Iconoclast theologian, John the Grammarian, and an iconoclast bishop destroying an image of Christ. (State Historical Museum, Moscow)
Khludov Psalter (detail), 9th century. The image represents the Iconoclast theologian, John the Grammarian, and an iconoclast bishop destroying an image of Christ. (State Historical Museum, Moscow)The original theological basis for iconoclasm was fairly weak. Arguments
relied mostly on the Old Testament prohibition (quoted above). But it
was clear that this prohibition was not absolute since God also
instructs how to make three dimensional representations of the Cherubim
(heavenly spirits or angels) for the Ark of the Covenant, which is also
quoted in the Old Testament, just a couple of chapters after the passage
that prohibits images (Exodus 25:18-20).
Emperor Constantine V gave a more nuanced theological rationale for iconoclasm. He claimed that each visual representation of Christ necessarily ends in a heresy since Christ, according to generally accepted Christian dogmas, is simultaneously God and man, united without separation, and any visual depiction of Christ either separates these natures, representing Christ’s humanity alone, or confuses them.
The iconophile (pro-icon) counter-argument was most convincingly
articulated by St. John of Damascus and St. Theodore the Studite. They
claimed that the iconoclast arguments were simply confused. Images of
Christ do not depict natures, being either Divine or human, but a
concrete person—Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God. They claimed
that in Christ the meaning of the Old Testament prohibition is revealed:
God prohibited any representation of God (or anything that could be
worshiped as a god) because it was impossible to depict the invisible
God. Any such representation would thus be an idol, essentially a false
representation or false god. But in Christ’s person, God became visible,
as a concrete human being, so painting Christ is necessary as a proof
that God truly, not seemingly, became man. The fact that one can depict
Christ witnesses God’s incarnation.Emperor Constantine V gave a more nuanced theological rationale for iconoclasm. He claimed that each visual representation of Christ necessarily ends in a heresy since Christ, according to generally accepted Christian dogmas, is simultaneously God and man, united without separation, and any visual depiction of Christ either separates these natures, representing Christ’s humanity alone, or confuses them.
Madonna with Christ, 9th century, mosaic, Hagia Sophia (Istanbul). This mosaic follows the iconoclastic crisis and revives stylistic elements from early Christian art.
The first phase of iconoclasm ended in 787, when the Seventh Ecumenical (universal) Council of bishops, met in Nicaea. This council affirmed the view of the iconophiles, ordering all right-believing (orthodox) Christians to respect holy icons, prohibiting at the same time their adoration as idolatry. Emperor Leo V initiated a second period of iconoclasm in 814, but in 843, Empress of Theodora proclaimed the restoration of icons and affirmed the decisions of the Seventh Ecumenical council. This event is still celebrated in the Orthodox Church as the “Feast of Orthodoxy.”
Text by Dr. Davor Džalto
Where and When
Constantinople (now Istanbul)
8th and 9th Centuries
8th and 9th Centuries
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