Iconodulism (also iconoduly or iconodulia) designates the religious service to
icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
s (kissing and honourable veneration, incense, and candlelight). The term comes from
Neoclassical Greek εἰκονόδουλος (''eikonodoulos'') (from el, εἰκόνα – ''
icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
(image)'' + el, δοῦλος – ''servant''), meaning "one who serves images (icons)". It is also referred to as iconophilism (also iconophily or iconophilia from el, εἰκόνα – ''
icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
(image)'' + el, φιλέω – ''love'') designating a positive attitude towards the religious use of icons. In the history of
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
, iconodulism (or iconophilism) was manifested as a moderate position, between two extremes:
iconoclasm
Iconoclasm (from Ancient Greek, Greek: grc, wikt:εἰκών, εἰκών, lit=figure, icon, translit=eikṓn, label=none + grc, wikt:κλάω, κλάω, lit=to break, translit=kláō, label=none)From grc, wikt:εἰκών, εἰκών + wi ...
(radical opposition to the use of icons) and
iconolatry
Iconolatry (Greek: εἰκών, ''eikon'', 'picture or image', + λατρεία, '' latreia'', 'veritable (full) worship or adoration') designates the idolatric worship or adoration of icons. In the history of Christianity, iconolatry was manif ...
(idolatric
veritable (full) adoration of icons).
History
![triumph orthodoxy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Triumph_orthodoxy.jpg)
In contrast to moderate or respectful
adoration, various forms of
latria
Latria or latreia (also known as latreutical worship) is a theological term (Latin ''Latrīa'', from the Greek language, Greek wikt:λατρεία, λατρεία, ''latreia'') used in Catholic theology and Eastern Orthodox theology to mean adorat ...
of icons (''iconolatry'') were also starting to appear, mainly in popular worship. Since
veritable (full) adoration was reserved for God alone, such an attitude towards icons as objects was seen as a form of
idolatry
Idolatry is the worship of a cult image or "idol" as though it were God. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the A ...
. In reaction to that, the idolatrous misuse of icons was criticized and by the beginning of the 8th century some radical forms of criticism (''iconoclasm'') were also starting to emerge, arguing not only against adoration of icons, but also against any form of adoration and use of icons in religious life.
The
iconoclastic controversy
The Byzantine Iconoclasm ( gr, Εικονομαχία, Eikonomachía, lit=image struggle', 'war on icons) were two periods in the history of the Byzantine Empire when the use of religious images or icons was opposed by religious and imperial au ...
emerged in the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
and lasted through the 8th and the 9th centuries. The most famous ''iconodules'' (proponents of the veneration of icons) during that time were saints
John of Damascus
John of Damascus ( ar, يوحنا الدمشقي, Yūḥanna ad-Dimashqī; gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Δαμασκηνός, Ioánnēs ho Damaskēnós, ; la, Ioannes Damascenus) or John Damascene was a Christian monk, priest, hymnographer, and a ...
and
Theodore the Studite
Theodore the Studite ( grc-x-medieval, Θεόδωρος ό Στουδίτης; 759–826), also known as Theodorus Studita and Saint Theodore of Stoudios/Studium, was a Byzantine Greek monk and abbot of the Stoudios Monastery in Constantinople. H ...
. The controversy was instigated by the Byzantine Emperor
Leo III in 726, when he ordered the removal of the image of Christ above the
Chalke Gate
The Chalke Gate ( el, ), was the main ceremonial entrance (vestibule (architecture), vestibule) to the Great Palace of Constantinople, Great Palace of Constantinople in the Byzantine period. The name, which means "the Bronze Gate", was given to ...
of the imperial palace in Constantinople.
[ Lowden, John. (1997) ''Early Christian and Byzantine Art''. London: ]Phaidon Press
Phaidon Press is a global publisher of books on art, architecture, design, fashion, photography, and popular culture, as well as cookbooks, children's books, and travel books. The company is based in London and New York City, with additional off ...
, p. 155. A wider prohibition of icons followed in 730. St.
John of Damascus
John of Damascus ( ar, يوحنا الدمشقي, Yūḥanna ad-Dimashqī; gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Δαμασκηνός, Ioánnēs ho Damaskēnós, ; la, Ioannes Damascenus) or John Damascene was a Christian monk, priest, hymnographer, and a ...
argued successfully that to prohibit the use of icons was tantamount to denying the
incarnation
Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It refers to the conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or the appearance of a god as a human. If capitalized, it is the union of divinit ...
, the presence of the Word of God in the material world. Icons reminded the church of the physicality of God as manifested in
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
.
Kissing and respected worship ( el, «ἀσπασμόν καί τιμητικήν προσκύνησιν»; lat, «osculum et honorariam adorationem»), incense and candles for icons was established by the
Second Council of Nicaea
The Second Council of Nicaea is recognized as the last of the first seven ecumenical councils by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. In addition, it is also recognized as such by the Old Catholics, the Anglican Communion, and ...
(Seventh
Ecumenical Council
An ecumenical council, also called general council, is a meeting of bishops and other church authorities to consider and rule on questions of Christian doctrine, administration, discipline, and other matters in which those entitled to vote are ...
) in 787. The Council decided that icons should not be destroyed, as was advocated and practiced by the
iconoclasts, nor veritable (full) worshiped or adored ( el, «ἀληθινήν λατρείαν»; lat, «veram latriam»), as was practiced by
iconolatrists, but they needed to be kissed and they needed respectful worship as symbolic representations of God, angels or saints. Such a position was approved by
Pope Adrian I
Pope Adrian I ( la, Hadrianus I; died 25 December 795) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1 February 772 to his death. He was the son of Theodore, a Roman nobleman.
Adrian and his predecessors had to contend with periodic ...
, but due to mis-translations of conciliar acts from Greek into Latin, a controversy arose in the
Frankish kingdom
Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...
, resulting in the creation of
Libri Carolini
The ''Libri Carolini'' ("Charles' books"), more correctly ''Opus Caroli regis contra synodum'' ("The work of King Charles against the Synod"), is a work in four books composed on the command of Charlemagne in the mid 790s to refute the conclusions ...
. The last outburst of iconoclasm in the Byzantine Empire was overcome at the Council of Constantinople in 843, which reaffirmed the adoration of icons in an event celebrated as the
Feast of Orthodoxy
The Feast of Orthodoxy (or Sunday of Orthodoxy or Triumph of Orthodoxy) is celebrated on the first Sunday of Great Lent in the Eastern Orthodox Church and other churches using the Byzantine Rite to commemorate, originally, only the final defea ...
.
The
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trento, Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italian Peninsula, Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation ...
(XIX Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church) in 1563 confirmed iconodulism. But this council, unlike the Council of Nicaea, used a different expression in relation to icons: "honour and veneration" ( lat, honorem et venerationem). Its decree reads: "we kiss, and before which we uncover the head, and prostrate ourselves, we adore Christ; and we venerate the saints, whose similitude they bear" ( lat, «ita ut per imagines, quas osculamur, et coram quibus caput aperimus, et procumbimus, Christum adoremus, et Sanctos quorum illae similitudinem gerunt, veneremur»).
The Council of Trent. The Twenty-Fifth Session. On the invocation, veneration, and relics of saints and of sacred images./ The canons and decrees of the sacred and oecumenical Council of Trent, / Ed. and trans. J. Waterworth (London: Dolman, 1848), 232-89.
/ref>
See also
* Byzantine iconoclasm
The Byzantine Iconoclasm ( gr, Εικονομαχία, Eikonomachía, lit=image struggle', 'war on icons) were two periods in the history of the Byzantine Empire when the use of religious images or icons was opposed by religious and imperial a ...
* Iconoclasm
Iconoclasm (from Ancient Greek, Greek: grc, wikt:εἰκών, εἰκών, lit=figure, icon, translit=eikṓn, label=none + grc, wikt:κλάω, κλάω, lit=to break, translit=kláō, label=none)From grc, wikt:εἰκών, εἰκών + wi ...
* Iconography
Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...
* Idolatry
Idolatry is the worship of a cult image or "idol" as though it were God. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the A ...
* Iconolatry
Iconolatry (Greek: εἰκών, ''eikon'', 'picture or image', + λατρεία, '' latreia'', 'veritable (full) worship or adoration') designates the idolatric worship or adoration of icons. In the history of Christianity, iconolatry was manif ...
References
Sources
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{{Authority control
Byzantine Iconoclasm
Christian terminology
pl:Ikonodulia