icon (religion)

In the Greek or Eastern Orthodox Church, a religious picture of Jesus, Mary, an angel, or a saint, in painting, low relief, or mosaic; the full face must always be shown. Painted icons were traditionally made on wood. After the 17th century, and mainly in Russia, a riza was often added as protection; this gold and silver covering, that left only the face and hands visible, was sometimes adorned with jewels presented by the faithful in thanksgiving.

Icons were regarded as holy objects, based on the doctrine that God became visible through Jesus. Monks often painted them as a religious devotion. Icon-painting originated in the Byzantine Empire, but many examples were destroyed by the iconoclasts in the 8th and 9th centuries. The Byzantine style of painting predominated in the Mediterranean region and in Russia until the 12th century, when Russian, Greek, and other schools developed. Notable among them was the Russian Novgorod School, inspired by the work of the Byzantine refugee Theophanes the Greek. Andrei Rublev is the outstanding Russian icon-painter.