Iconodulism

The controversy was instigated by the Byzantine Emperor Leo III in 726,[3] when he ordered the removal of the image of Christ above the Chalke Gate of the imperial palace in Constantinople.

St. John of Damascus argued successfully that to prohibit the use of icons was tantamount to denying the incarnation, the presence of the Word of God in the material world.

[9] Such a position was approved by Pope Adrian I, but due to mis-translations of conciliar acts from Greek into Latin, a controversy arose in the Frankish kingdom, resulting in the creation of Libri Carolini.

[10] The last outburst of iconoclasm in the Byzantine Empire was overcome at the Council of Constantinople (843), which reaffirmed the adoration of icons in an event celebrated as the Feast of Orthodoxy.

Its decree reads: "we kiss, and before which we uncover the head, and prostrate ourselves, we adore Christ; and we venerate the saints, whose similitude they bear" (Latin: «ita ut per imagines, quas osculamur, et coram quibus caput aperimus, et procumbimus, Christum adoremus, et Sanctos quorum illae similitudinem gerunt, veneremur»).

Late 14th-early 15th century icon illustrating the "Triumph of Orthodoxy" under the Byzantine empress Theodora over iconoclasm in 843. (National Icon Collection 18, British Museum ).