Icons have been used in Christianity for almost 2000 years as a way to teach biblical stories and religious teachings through visual representations for illiterate followers. They first became popular in private homes and then churches in the 4th-5th centuries. Some religious traditionalists opposed icons and destroyed them, in a period known as iconoclasm. Today, icons are still painted according to traditional styles and rules, depicting figures like Christ, saints and Mary, and can be found in museums and private collections.

1. Religious Icons History of Religious Icons

2. Where did the word “icon” come from?The word icon is Greek and means an image, orrepresentation of a holy image. Icon refers to all kinds of religious images, but it is most oftenassociated with paintings on wood.

3. What are icons and how long have they been around?An icon is an image of a person or event taken directly from Christian scripture and created in a specific manner, according to specific rules.Historians date the appearance of the iconographic style to the first three centuries of Christianity. They have been around for almost two thousand years.

4. How did icons first become popular?Some people believe that icons were firstpopular in people’s houses and then later beganto appear in places of worship. By the 4th and5th century, they were commonly used in placesof worship, like churches.

5. Why have icons?The idea of using icons came about because most Christianconverts came from pagan cultures and most of them wereilliterate, or could not read. Because of this, many of theseconverts had trouble understanding bible teachings and theicons became a way to teach the historical events of the bible.They were basically like picture books of the bible. Early churchleaders allowed these icons in the church because they allowedpeople to better understand the church’s teachings.

6. What types of icons are there?Iconic style incorporates many artistic elementsfrom the ancient art styles of Greece, Rome,Syria, and Egypt.

7. IconoclastsEven though icons were popular, they keptarousing the suspicions of some religioustraditionalists who saw them as breaking thesecond commandant, “Thou shall not make untothee graven images”. In 762, the traditionalistsbanned all pictorial representations, or icons, andbegan the destruction of the holy images. Thisperiod of time is known as the iconoclasm.

8. Do we still have icons today?Icons are still being painted today. There aremany modern artists and craftsmen who upholdthe great traditions of Iconography. Many of themost famous icons can be found in Russianmuseums and private American collections.

9. Typical Icon ImagesChristSaints The Virgin MaryScenes from the Bible

15. Vocabulary WordsHalo: Light emanating from a holy person, usually rendered as a circle of gold around the head.Pattern: Anything fashioned or designed to be used as a model or guide for something to be made.Iconographer: An artist who specializes in the creation of religious icons and upholds the traditions of the ancient art form.

16. Vocabulary WordsBurnish: To polish gold leaf with cotton or a special polishing tool.Egg Tempura: The painting medium created by mixing pigments with melted wax; employed in many of the earliest panel icons.Symbols: Something used for or representing something else.

17. Additional Questions