Iconophilia: Politics, Religion, Preaching, and the Use of Images in Rome, c.680 - 880

Awarded the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei’s Mario Di Nola Prize 2023

Between the late seventh and the mid-ninth centuries, a debate about sacred images – conventionally addressed as ‘Byzantine iconoclasm’ – engaged monks, emperors, and popes in the Mediterranean area and on the European continent. The importance of this debate cannot be overstated; it challenged the relation between image, text, and belief. A series of popes staunchly in favour of sacred images acted consistently during thi...