Byzantine Icon Painting

Timeline

1. 600–726Constantinople · ConstantinopleIn the sixth and seventh centuries Byzantium formed standard compositions for panel icons and church murals centered on solemn figures of Christ, the Virgin and the saints; theologians argued icons as the visible representation of the Incarnation, laying the theoretical foundation for later icon orthodoxy.
2. c. 726–843Constantinople · ConstantinopleBetween 726 and 843 the empire twice banned icon veneration and many icons were destroyed; after Empress Theodora presided over the Triumph of Orthodoxy in 843, icon veneration was legalized, spurring a full revival of icon painting and the establishment of new paradigms.
3. 1321–1330Constantinople · ConstantinopleIn the early fourteenth century imperial territory shrank but the icon tradition remained vigorous, with the capital and Mount Athos monasteries continuously producing panel icons and murals; works of this period inherited the Palaiologan fine lines and emotional expression, reflecting late Byzantine spiritual aesthetics.
4. c. 1261–1453Crete · CreteAfter 1261 icon painting flourished in Crete, Macedonia and Serbia; after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Byzantine icon paradigms spread to Russia and the Balkans through exiled craftsmen and the Orthodox Church, continuing the empire's visual theological legacy.