Icons in the Later Middle Ages

An icon is an image, of a prominent religious figure like Christ or Mary, and has a type of “power” to it. Icons worked the same sort of way as the relics did, having the same presence as a relic does. It is even argued that these icons just manifest themselves into existence, not being made by man. Icons could be a wide range of items, such as a painting of Jesus, a statue of Mother Mary, etc. With the influx of Icons spreading across medieval Europe, a counter movement followed. People begin wiping away paintings and icons in churches, sparking the Iconoclasm movement. Icons across the empire were defaced by these iconoclasts, and a number of masterpieces were destroyed in the process.