Christian Icons

Christian icons take many forms, but their most common iterations are painted wooden panels. During the 4th century A.D., Christian theologians began writing extensively about their appearance and function during worship, but icons were likely in use as early as the 1st century A.D.

Byzantine Christians used icons as vehicles to guide their prayers to the divine, but many believed that images were idolatrous and that their use constituted an act of blasphemy. In 726, Emperor Leo III of the Byzantine Empire believed the practice of venerating icons had gone too far and launched a campaign of iconoclasm. He banned the use of icons and ordered the public to destruct all devotional pictures, leading to a period of more than one hundred years of civil unrest. In 843, however, Empress Theodora reversed the law and made the use of icons legal and acceptable once again.

Icons continued to play an important role in the Byzantine world until the collapse of the Empire in 1453, and they are still used by practicing Eastern Orthodox Christians today. Stylistic trends often indicate the geographic region where icons were made. For example, Russian icons are often encased with elaborately-engraved silver or gold frames.

Quick Facts

• On November 30, 2015, Christie’s London sold a 1899-1908 silver-gilt cloisonné, champlevé, and en plein enamel triptych icon for $311,815
• On November 24, 2008, Christie’s London sold an icon of the nativity of Christ c. 1400-1425, for $342,250
• The "Virgin of Vladimir," c. 1130, housed in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, is one of the most valuable Christian icons to survive from the Byzantine period