Editing Icon (section)

==Western Christianity==
Although the word "icon" is not generally used in [[Western Christianity]], there are religious works of art which were largely patterned on Byzantine works, and equally conventional in composition and depiction. Until the 13th century, icon-like depictions of sacred figures followed Eastern patterns—although very few survive from this early period. Italian examples are in a style known as [[Italo-Byzantine]].

From the 13th century, the Western tradition came slowly to allow the artist far more flexibility, and a more realist approach to the figures. If only because there was a much smaller number of skilled artists, the quantity of works of art, in the sense of panel paintings, was much smaller in the West, and in most Western settings a single [[diptych]] as an altarpiece, or in a domestic room, probably stood in place of the larger collections typical of Orthodox "[[icon corner]]s".

Only in the 15th century did production of painted works of art begin to approach Eastern levels, supplemented by mass-produced imports from the [[Cretan School]]. In this century, the use of icon-like portraits in the West was enormously increased by the introduction of [[old master print]]s on paper, mostly [[woodcut]]s which were produced in vast numbers (although hardly any survive). They were mostly sold, hand-coloured, by churches, and the smallest sizes (often only an inch high) were affordable even by [[peasant]]s, who glued or pinned them straight onto a wall.

With the [[Reformation]], after an initial uncertainty among early Lutherans, who painted a few icon-like depictions of leading Reformers, and continued to paint scenes from Scripture, Protestants came down firmly against icon-like portraits, especially larger ones, even of Christ. Many Protestants found these idolatrous.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Walsham |first=Alexandra |title=The Reformation of the Landscape |date=2011-02-01 |chapter=Idols in the Landscape: The Impact of the Protestant Reformation |pages=80–152 |chapter-url=https://academic.oup.com/book/34826/chapter/297731230 |language=en |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199243556.003.0003|isbn=978-0-19-924355-6 }}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Archangel Michael Hajdudorog.JPG|A Western-style icon of the archangel [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]] in the Greek Catholic [[Iconostasis of the Cathedral of Hajdúdorog]]
File:Czestochowska.jpg|An icon of the [[Black Madonna of Częstochowa]], one of the [[national symbol]]s of [[Poland]]
File:Icon Cathedral 3.jpg|alt=Icon of the Melanesian Martyrs at Canterbury Cathedral (Anglican Communion)|Icon of the [[Melanesian Brotherhood]] martyrs at [[Canterbury Cathedral]] (Anglican Communion)
File:Chapkanov-Saint-Nicholas.jpg|A modern metal icon of [[Saint Nicholas]] by the Bulgarian artist Georgi 'Chapa' Chapkanov. This depiction differs radically from traditional Orthodox iconography. [[Legislative Council of the Falkland Islands|Gilbert House]], [[Stanley, Falkland Islands]].
</gallery>

===Catholic Church view===
The [[Catholic Church]] accepted the decrees of the [[Iconodulism|iconodule]] [[Seventh ecumenical council|Seventh Ecumenical Council]] regarding images. There is some minor difference, however, in the Catholic attitude to images from that of the Orthodox. Following [[Gregory the Great]], Catholics emphasize the role of images as the {{lang|la|[[Biblia pauperum|Biblia Pauperum]]}}, the "Bible of the Poor", from which those who could not read could nonetheless learn.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ArtWay.eu |url=https://www.artway.eu/content.php?id=2258&lang=en&action=show |access-date=2022-08-25 |website=www.artway.eu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Karen |date=2010-05-12 |title=Biblia Pauperum |url=https://owlinthepulpit.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/biblia-pauperum/ |access-date=2022-08-25 |website=the owl in the pulpit |language=en}}</ref>

Catholics also, however, share the same viewpoint with the Orthodox when it comes to image veneration, believing that whenever approached, sacred images are to be shown reverence. Though using both flat wooden panel and stretched canvas paintings, Catholics traditionally have also favored images in the form of three-dimensional statuary, whereas in the East, statuary is much less widely employed.

===Lutheran view===
A joint Lutheran–Orthodox statement made in the 7th Plenary of the Lutheran–Orthodox Joint Commission, in July 1993 in Helsinki, reaffirmed the [[ecumenical council]] decisions on the nature of Christ and the veneration of images:

{{blockquote|7. As Lutherans and Orthodox we affirm that the teachings of the ecumenical councils are authoritative for our churches. The ecumenical councils maintain the integrity of the teaching of the undivided Church concerning the saving, illuminating/justifying and glorifying acts of God and reject heresies which subvert the saving work of God in Christ. Orthodox and Lutherans, however, have different histories. Lutherans have received the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan Creed with the addition of the [[filioque]]. The Seventh Ecumenical Council, the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, which rejected iconoclasm and restored the veneration of icons in the churches, was not part of the tradition received by the Reformation. Lutherans, however, rejected the iconoclasm of the 16th century, and affirmed the distinction between adoration due to the Triune God alone and all other forms of veneration (CA 21). Through historical research this council has become better known. Nevertheless it does not have the same significance for Lutherans as it does for the Orthodox. Yet, Lutherans and Orthodox are in agreement that the [[Second Council of Nicaea]] confirms the christological teaching of the earlier councils and in setting forth the role of images (icons) in the lives of the faithful reaffirms the reality of the incarnation of the eternal Word of God, when it states: "The more frequently, Christ, Mary, the mother of God, and the saints are seen, the more are those who see them drawn to remember and long for those who serve as models, and to pay these icons the tribute of salutation and respectful veneration. Certainly this is not the full adoration in accordance with our faith, which is properly paid only to the divine nature, but it resembles that given to the figure of the honored and life-giving cross, and also to the holy books of the gospels and to other sacred objects" (Definition of the Second Council of Nicaea).<ref>{{cite web |title=The Ecumenical Councils and Authority in and of the Church (Lutheran-Orthodox Dialogue Statement, 1993) |url=https://www.lutheranworld.org/sites/default/files/1993-Lutheran_Orthodox_Dialogue-EN.pdf |publisher=The Lutheran World Federation |date=July 1993 |access-date=10 March 2020}}</ref>}}