Iconography
Its History and their Connection to Modern-Day
Retablos
Iconography suffered severe persecution during the time of iconoclasm, which
lasted roughly 120 years. The iconoclasts were suspicious of images
representing human beings or God
himself. They disputed the belief of Christians that icons gave a glimpse of
the spiritual world,
bringing them closer to their creator and God; or, more importantly, to
strive for the qualities and virtues of the Christian life - emulating the
goodness in the saints portrayed in the images.
The
iconoclastic controversy began around the year 726 under Emperor Leo the HI,
with the
icons destroyed and burned. Roughly, fifty years later, Empress Irene
stopped the destruction of
the
holy images. The seventh ecumenical council upheld the veneration of icons
in the year 787 -giving
the same importance to their role in the church as the Book of the Gospels
and relics of
the
Holy Cross. Then, Emperor Leo the V began the persecution again for another
thirty years. Eventually, the Empress Theodora reinstated the veneration of
the icons again permanently. This final victory celebrated in the Orthodox
Church on the first Sunday of Great Lent and
known as the Triumph of Orthodoxy.
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