Iconoclasm (from Ancient Greek εἰκών (eikṓn) 'figure, icon' and κλάω (kláō) 'to break') [i] is the belief in the importance of the destruction of icons and other images or monuments, often for religious or political reasons.
Iconoclasm refers to any destruction of images, including the Byzantine Iconoclastic Controversy of the eighth and ninth centuries, although the Byzantines themselves did not use this term. Iconomachy (Greek for “image struggle”) was the term the Byzantines used to describe the Iconoclastic Controversy.
Iconoclasm refers to the destruction of images or hostility toward visual representations in general. In a more specificly, the word is used for the Iconoclastic Controversy that shook the Byzantine Empire for more than 100 years.
Iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of religious icons or monuments, usually for religious or political motives. It is also a name given to the Christian " heresy " of the eighth and ninth centuries which caused a major controversy in the Eastern Roman Empire and provoked one of a series of schisms between Constantinople and Rome.
The meaning of ICONOCLASM is the doctrine, practice, or attitude of an iconoclast.
The Roots of Religious Controversy The Byzantine Iconoclasm, literally meaning the “breaking of icons,” refers to the imperial campaigns against the veneration of religious images depicting Christ, the Virgin Mary, and saints. This movement, initiated by Emperor Leo III in 726 or 730, was not merely an artistic or theological dispute but a profound cultural and political struggle that ...
Iconoclasm: The Source of Debate The Iconoclastic debate centered on the appropriate use of icons in religious veneration, and the precise relationship between the sacred personage and his/her image.