Editing Christendom (section)

====Iconography====
{{Main|Iconoclasm|Religious image|Christian icons|Christian symbolism|Saint symbology|Iconography}}
[[File:St. Theodor.jpg|thumb|There are few old ceramic icons, such as this [[St. Theodor]] icon which dates to {{Circa|900}} (from [[Preslav]], [[Bulgaria]]).]]

Christian art began, about two centuries after Christ, by borrowing motifs from [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[Roman Empire|Imperial]] [[imagery]], [[classical Greek]] and Roman religion and popular art. [[Religious images]] are used to some extent by the [[Abrahamic religion|Abrahamic]] Christian faith, and often contain highly complex iconography, which reflects centuries of accumulated tradition.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web |title=Answering Eastern Orthodox Apologists regarding Icons |author-first1=John B. |author-last1=Carpenter|url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/answering-eastern-orthodox-apologists-regarding-icons/ |website=The Gospel Coalition}}</ref> In the [[Late Antique]] period iconography began to be standardised, and to relate more closely to [[Biblical]] texts, although many gaps in the [[canonical Gospel]] narratives were plugged with matter from the [[apocrypha|apocryphal gospels]]. Eventually the Church would succeed in weeding most of these out, but some remain, like the ox and ass in the [[Nativity of Jesus in art|Nativity of Christ]].

An [[icon]] is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from [[Eastern Christianity]]. Christianity has used symbolism from its very beginnings.<ref name=":1">{{CathEncy|wstitle=Symbolism}}</ref> In both East and West, numerous iconic types of [[Christ]], [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]] and saints and other subjects were developed; the number of named types of icons of Mary, with or without the infant Christ, was especially large in the East, whereas [[Christ Pantocrator]] was much the commonest image of Christ.

[[Christian symbolism]] invests objects or actions with an inner meaning expressing Christian ideas. Christianity has borrowed from the common stock of significant symbols known to most periods and to all regions of the world.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jenner |first=Henry |title=Christian Symbolism |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |year=2004 |page=xiv |author-link=Henry Jenner |orig-year=1910}}</ref> [[Religious symbolism]] is effective when it appeals to both the intellect and the emotions. Especially important depictions of Mary include the [[Hodegetria]] and [[Panagia]] types. Traditional models evolved for narrative paintings, including large cycles covering the events of the Life of Christ, the [[Life of the Virgin]], parts of the Old Testament, and, increasingly, the lives of popular [[saint]]s. Especially in the West, a system of [[emblem|attributes]] developed for [[Saint symbology|identifying individual]] figures of saints by a standard appearance and symbolic objects held by them; in the East they were more likely to identified by text labels.<ref name=":1" />

Each saint has a story and a reason why he or she led an exemplary life. [[Symbols]] have been used to tell these stories throughout the history of the Church. A number of Christian saints are traditionally represented by a symbol or [[Icon|iconic motif]] associated with their life, termed an attribute or [[emblem]], in order to identify them. The study of these forms part of [[iconography]] in [[Art history]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eiland |first=Murray |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.30861/9781407360713 |title=Picturing Roman Belief Systems: The iconography of coins in the Republic and Empire |date=2023-04-30 |publisher=British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd |isbn=978-1-4073-6071-3 |doi=10.30861/9781407360713}}</ref>