Late Byzantium (Constantinople?) School, Icon with the Triumph of Orthodoxy, before 1400, Egg tempera with gold leaf on a wood panel, 39cmx 31cm, The British Museum, London
This version of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, created before 1400 and possibly in Constantinople, is a seminal artefact commemorating the end of Iconoclasm and the restoration of icon veneration in 843 AD.
It is the earliest known artistic representation of the resolution to one of Byzantium’s most profound theological and cultural disputes: the controversy over religious images that began around 730 AD. During this period, icons were condemned as idolatrous, leading to their destruction and generating deep ecclesiastical and social unrest. The composition includes key figures such as Empress Theodora (c. 815–867) and her son Michael III (839–867), honoured for their role in re-establishing the use of icons in Orthodox worship, alongside Patriarch Methodios (c. 788–847), shown actively promoting their veneration.
At the centre is the image of the Hodegetria, traditionally attributed to Saint Luke (1st century AD), which reinforces the theological case for the veneration of icons as visual affirmations of the Incarnation of Christ. The work not only marks the triumph over Iconoclasm but also stands as a declaration of the Orthodox Church’s position on the legitimacy and necessity of sacred images, capturing a defining moment in the history of Byzantine art and theology.