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ICONOCLASM

Julia Sevco and Lexi Grubbs

In The
Beginning

Began in 726 when Byzantine


Emperor Leo III ordered a figure of
Christ be removed from palace gate

Destruction of crosses, images of Mary


and the saints followed

Iconoclasm continued under


Emperor Constantine. The
Iconoclast Council of 754
denounced all pictorial
representations of Christ as idols

What is
Iconoclasm?

Translates to Image-breaking
Eikonoklasmos

The destroying and destruction of


religious icons and momentums because
of either political or religious reasons

Some believe it was caused by the Ten


Commandments

What did this teach?


Worshipping doesnt require any
figures or images
You can worship without icons in
religious veneration

Why Was It
Wrong?

Iconoclasts argued that Christ


was indescribable

However, with the Incarnation,


Christ revealed Himself in the
human form so accepting
iconoclasm meant denying the
Incarnation which ultimately
led to mans salvation.

Fighters of Iconoclasm
Empress Irene (wife of Leo IV)

Theodora the Iconodule (wife of


Theopilus)

How It Was
Defeated

In 787 at the Second Council of the


Nicaea, Empress Irene rejected
iconoclasm as heresy.

However, Emperor Leo V overthrew


Irenes decision in 815.

Iconoclasm ended in 843 when


Empress Theodora reversed the royal
policy and made holy images legal.
Some churches still celebrate this
event every year on the Feast of the
Orthodoxy, the first Sunday of Lent,
with a triumphant parade of holy
images.

Works Cited
Wright,

Jonathan. Heretics. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011.

Fortescue,

Adrian. "Iconoclasm." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New


York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. Web. 14 Apr. 2016

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07620a.htm

Iconoclasm.

New Catholic Encyclopedia. 2003 ed.

Iconoclasm. OrthodoxWiki.Org . OrthodoxWiki. 24 March 2011 . Web. 13

April 2016.
http://orthodoxwiki.org/Iconoclasm
Brooks,

Sarah. Icons and Iconoclasm in Byzantium. The Met. The


Metropolitan Museum of Art. August 2009. Web. 13 April 2016.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/icon/hd_icon.htm

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