Religion, Politics and the Arts in Early Medieval Italy

"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 this period in displaying a remarkable iconophilia or 'love for images'. Their multifaceted reaction involved not only council resolutions and diplomatic exchanges, but also public religious festivals, liturgy, preaching, and visual arts - the mass-media of the time. Embracing these tools, the popes especially promoted themes related to the Incarnation of God - which justified the production and veneration of sacred images - and extolled the role and the figure of the Virgin Mary. Despite their profound influence over Byzantine and western cultures of later centuries, the political, theological, and artistic interactions between the East and the West during this period have not yet been investigated in studies combining textual and material evidence. By drawing evid