The idea of an icon, which represents a figure, has thrived since the creation of the Jewish Torah, or what the Christians call the Old Testament. Icons came in many shapes and sizes to demonstrate stories from both the Old and New Testament. However, sometimes the use of icons was abused by world leaders with their people. Over time, some groups believed icons benefited the survival of their religion, although others thought to misuse the icon, since people worshipped it for qualities it did not have. This idea played a prevalent role and influenced the iconoclasts' focus on the destruction of religious icons in the Byzantine Empire, during the periods 717-754 CE, 754-775 CE, and 815-843 CE. Their ideals about the breaking of icons, however, did not penetrate Western Europe; where they praised the use of icons to better assist their followers enjoy their faith.
The Hebrew Bible, which Christians used as their Old Testament, held specific ideals about the practice of icons in accordance with idolatry. The Second Commandment, which God issued to Moses on Mount Sinai, clearly stated God's wishes about idols in Exodus chapter twenty verse four and five, "thou shalt not make unto thy any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them" (The Holy Bible). From a literal sense, God made man in his image, so when someone makes a figure of a man, the image of God is displayed, and this classified as idolatry. In the text of Exodus, the Israelites disobeyed God's commands when they fashioned a golden calf, which they worshipped as an idol. In the Byzantine Empire, the iconoclasts held the seco...
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...nately, these principles about the use of icons did not infiltrate Western Europe, but instead icons thrived as a means to create a more unified church for members who could not read. Without the use of icons in Western Europe, civilization would have lost an important part of the history of the early Christian religion.
Works Cited
Barber, Charles. Figure and Likeness: On the Limits of Representation in Byzantine Iconoclasm. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2002.
Images, Idolatry, and Iconoclasm in Late Medieval England. Ed. Jeremy Dimmick, James Simpson, and Nicolette Zeeman. New York: Oxford University Press Inc., 2002.
The Holy Bible: King James Version. Chattanooga, Tennessee: AMG International Inc., 1998
The Image and the Word: Confrontations in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Ed. Joseph Gutmann. Missoula, Montana: Scholars Press, 1977.
Oxtoby, Willard Gurdon. "Jewish Traditions." World religions: western traditions. 1996. Reprint. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2011. 127-157. Print.
Also the choice of colors are characterized as Byzantine. This is why it is believed to be from that period of time. Iconic figures suchas this one became more frequent during this time as the religious belief in one god began to strengthen.
The. 1987 Lopez, Kathryn Muller. Read Daniel: Negotiating The Classic Issues Of The Book. Review & Expositor 109.4 (2012): 521-530. ATLASerials, a Religion Collection.
The Christ Icon is an encaustic painting. This process of painting uses melted beeswax mixed with color pigment and applied to a wooden slab. Paint brushes and hot metal tools are then used to melt and manipulate the paint into the form desired by the artist. This form of painting was common during the Byzantine Empire, as its rich textured color withstood the elements and created an impressive and unique shine. The gloss finish that many professional painters use today was sparked by emulating the durability, and quality of paintings form this time period. Other famous works form the Byzantine empire, such as St. Peter and of A Woman from Al-Fayum, were made using the melted beeswax technique, and, because of this, process similar qualities as the Christ Icon to this
All comes to show, that Christianity took hold on the ancient world because it was easy, convenient and powerful. Christianity is a strong religion seeming as it still stands
The Iconoclastic Controversy all started when Emperor Leo III of the Eastern part of the Byzantine Empire, removed an image of Jesus from the imperial palace in Constantinople. The reason for his action may be due the fact that he believed that icons of Jesus were Idolatrous. He felt that he was purifying the church by removing the image because it went against the second of the Ten Commandments which prohibits the creation of idols to be worshipped. The iconoclasts, like Emperor Leo III, made an argument which supported the Emperor’s actions. Their argument suggested that in order to represent Christ appropriately, we must do so with respect to both his humanity and divinity, or to his humanity only; but to only represent his humanity would be Nestorian heresy because
Judaism and Islam are two major world religions. They are widely followed throughout the world. These two religions have a long a delicate past that has come to describe their future.
The representation of divinity was clearly defined in Christ in Majesty with Symbols of the Four Evangelists through its subject matter, technique, and style. Christ acts as the focal point, but the artist also used different subjects from the Old and New Testament to decorate the apse. Unlike the mosaics in the apse of Byzantine churches, the artist employed the technique of classical fresco painting. The artist also applied decoration to the figures with the hierarchy of scale, and through the geometric style in the drapery instead of maintaining a sense of realism.
Christian artwork resembles the monotheistic belief of a single God known as Christ. Christianity is one of the principal religions and ethics of society. Such artworks assist Christians in seeking to conform their lives and their societies to the will of God as revealed in sacred scripture. Christians created a powerful figurative art using human beings as an expressive symbol. Christianity constructed the Christian church, which has become the largest patron of religion. The Christian church has utilized many works of art to express their religion and show power, thus attracting worshippers. Through these works of art, Christian iconography was prominent. Christian iconography consisted mostly of sculptures. There are sculptures of prophets, apostles, and saints, and paintings of altarpieces and church murals. The Virgin Mary is known as the greatest of all Christian saints, the holiest of all. She is the mother of God and born free of original sin. She exemplifies piety, humbleness, and holiness. The two Christian artworks The Virgin and Child in Majesty with Saints Quentin and Placidus and The Assumption of the Virgin share similar colors, iconography, symbolism, but have different connotations.
Smart, Ninian. "Blackboard, Religion 100." 6 March 2014. Seven Dimensions of Religion. Electronic Document. 6 March 2014.
Flood explains the origin of Islamic iconoclasm through a quote by K.A.C. Creswell stating, "the inherent temperamental dislike of Semitic races for representational art" and believes iconoclasm is contested among Muslims as well. The Hadith, which is the narrative of the Prophet's life forbids "all representations that have shadows (whose defacement is obligatory), and some schools of thought go so far as to liken artists to polytheists." Although the impact of iconoclasm depends on the time and place in which it occurred, the Hadith definitely helped to promote "the eschewal of figural imagery" and "the destruction or mutilation of existing figural imagery." In 696-697 figural imagery was repla...
The following paper is a formal analysis of an Italian panel entitled The Crucifixion, by Lorenzo Monaco. The panel was created near the end of the fourteenth century roughly between, 1392—1395 and is currently on display at the Art Institute of Chicago. According to the label identifying this work, this was a processional cross that was used during religious ceremonies in Florence, Italy. One thing to understand is that religious devotion was shown in many different ways throughout these times and the Christians were among those who practiced extreme devotion through the use of material objects that represented religious figures and other icons. There is a strong sense of symbolism in this piece, which is common in artwork produced in the fourteenth century that exemplifies the specialized meaning of the devotional practice associated with Christian iconography.
Kohn, Risa Levitt, and Rebecca Moore. A Portable God: The Origin of Judaism and Christianity. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. Print.
Dirks, Jerald. The Abrahamic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam : similarities & contrasts. Beltsville, Md.: Amana Publications, 2004.
Early Christian and Byzantine art started after Jesusí death in the first century ranging and ending to the fourth century AD. The art produced during this period was secretive because Christianity was not a formal religion but as a cult; the Romans and rest of Europe persecuted Christians so the artist disguised their work with symbols and hints of Christian aspects. Christianity was the first cult to not involve rituals of sacrifice of animals and refused to worship an Emperor causing the Roman Empire to make Christianity illegal. Byzantine art excelled in the Justinian period in the east during 520-540 AD. The art was produced in Ravenna, Byzantine, Venice, Sicily, Greece, and Russia. The difference between Christian and Byzantine is that Christian was earth beyond realism and Byzantine was more spiritual than worldly style. This art period was sectioned off into three different periods. The first was persecution from the first to the third century. The second was due to Constantine making Christianity legal in the fourth century. The last period is known as New Christian style starting in the fifth century. Most of the art from this period was frescoes, mosaics, and architecture.