Editing Icon (section)

==Palladium and miracles==
{{main|Palladium (protective image)| Palladium (classical antiquity)| Acheiropoieta}}
{{more citations needed section|date=October 2023}}
[[File:Avraamovs Feodorovskaya.jpg|thumb|''[[Our Lady of St. Theodore]]'', a 1703 copy of the 11th-century icon, following the same Byzantine "Tender Mercy" type as the Vladimirskaya above]]

The historical tradition of icons used for purposes other than visual depiction are the [[Palladium (protective image)]], the [[Palladium (classical antiquity)]], the {{transliteration|grc|[[acheiropoieta]]}}, and various "folk" traditions associated with [[folk religion]]. Of these various forms the oldest tradition dates back to before the Christian era among the ancient Greeks. The various "folk" traditions are more poorly documented and often are associated with local folk narratives of uncertain origin.

In English, since around 1600, the word ''palladium'' has been used figuratively to mean anything believed to provide protection or safety,<ref>[[OED]], "Palladium, 2", first recorded use 1600</ref> and in particular in Christian contexts a sacred [[relic]] or icon believed to have a protective role in military contexts for a whole city, people or nation. Such beliefs first become prominent in the [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern Churches]] in the period after the reign of the Byzantine Emperor [[Justinian I]], and later spread to the Western church. Palladia were processed around the walls of besieged cities and sometimes carried into battle.<ref>Kitzinger, 109-112</ref>