Introduction
The struggle over images (iconomachy) marks a watershed in Byzantine history. It set iconoclasts[1] against iconodules[2] around the question of figurative representation in a religious context. The origins of the conflict remain unclear. The life of Nicetas of Medikion gives an insight into the imbrications of the issues at stake as well as the intensity of the crisis: “The ancient heresies came from a quarrel over the dogmas and developed progressively, whereas this one comes from an imperial power, immensely powerful from the outset.” The discussion of the extent of imperial power over the church figures at the heart of the problematics as evidenced by a rejoinder attributed to Leo III[3]: “I am emperor and priest.” It remains that political, social and religious matters should in no way obscure those directly connected to art.
The veneration of images is a late development in the Christian context, New Testament scripture does not comment on them and the predication successes of the first three centuries owe them nothing. Though paleoChristian art developed in the 4th century, records exist of the destruction of images in churches in a step taken by ecclesial authorities in the process of integrating within the Roman imperial framework. The Christian worship of images asserted itself in the 6th century. Thereafter the sources available to historians may prejudice the analysis in that, by that time, the iconophile party had the upper hand. Arguments opposing religious imagery accordingly tend to go unappreciated in the corpuses on which researchers rely.
