Brief history of Byzantium

[Nikoz78]

If you mean, 'are icons Greek in origin' then the short answer is "Yes."

Icon is from Greek (εἰκών/eikōn), meaning "image."

Read this as an introduction to Byzantine art:
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(some very beautiful Greek icons pictured).

Also, remember that Byzantium was the Greek 'nation' for over a thousand years. From late antiquity to the medieval times.

It was the Medieval Greek Empire.

[really]

Hi Nikoz, welcome to the forum
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. Thanks for the link, it has many explanations so it is great.

No, I meant were icons made during the Byzantine era, not whether they are Greek in origin. However, that you mentioned that icon means image and that icons are Greek in origin is very interesting. Since the New Testament is a continuation of the Old Testament, and I think in the Old Testament they don't allow reproductions of God (if I remember well), and since it was the Greeks who wrote the New Testament, I find it interesting that it is also the Greeks who started reproducing or depicting Jesus, Saint Mary, the saints, etc. in icons. I don't think there are icons of God even though the Catholics do depict God in paintings (like Michaelangelo did on the roof of the the Sistine Chapel in Italy).

Considering that the Muslim religion forbids depictions of God or the Prophet, and some people say that the Koran is somehow based on the Bible (some others totally disagree with this), it seems to me that the icons are unique to the Orthodox and Catholic religions.

(As I don't know much about religions, please feel free to correct me if I say incorrect things.)

[gorgona]

Originally Posted by really
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Since the New Testament is a continuation of the Old Testament, and I think in the Old Testament they don't allow reproductions of God (if I remember well), and since it was the Greeks who wrote the New Testament, I find it interesting that it is also the Greeks who started reproducing or depicting Jesus, Saint Mary, the saints, etc. in icons. I don't think there are icons of God even though the Catholics do depict God in paintings (like Michaelangelo did on the roof of the the Sistine Chapel in Italy).

Considering that the Muslim religion forbids depictions of God or the Prophet, and some people say that the Koran is somehow based on the Bible (some others totally disagree with this), it seems to me that the icons are unique to the Orthodox and Catholic religions.

(As I don't know much about religions, please feel free to correct me if I say incorrect things.)

With regard to the Old Testament, the second commandment says, essentially, don’t carve an image and then worship that same image.

This doesn’t really apply to Orthodoxy, because we don’t worship the Icons. We worship what the Icons represent. It’s like having a photograph of a loved one; you love the person in the photo, not the photo.

The only thing I know about Islam on this subject is that the fundamentalists think that Mohammed was too pretty for any human to do justice to his image, but there is nothing in the Quran forbidding his depiction.

[really]

Thanks Gorgona for the clarification. Now I understand what means "worship that same image". I guess it would be not to worship images or statues like in the pagan religions.