Icon Facts For Kids

An icon is a special religious picture used in many churches to help people remember bible stories, pray, and feel close to holy people.

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Icon Facts For Kids

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About this topic

Icon is a special kind of religious picture used in many Christian churches, especially Eastern Orthodox and some Catholic and Lutheran communities. Icons most often show Jesus, Mary, saints, or angels. People use them to remember stories from the Bible, to pray, or to feel close to holy people. Icons can be paintings on wooden panels made with egg tempera, but they are not always paintings: some are mosaics (tiny colored stones), frescoes (painted on plaster), embroidered cloths, carved stone, or metalwork. Icons are meant to teach and inspire, so their style is careful and full of meaning.

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Quick Facts

🖼️Icons are religious works of art in Eastern Christianity and are often a panel painting.

🥚The most common traditional icon technique is egg tempera on wood.

😇Icons typically depict Jesus, Mary, saints, or angels.

🪵Icons can be made in many media, including wood panels, metal, stone carving, embroidery, mosaics, frescoes, paper, or metal prints.

✍️The Greek word for icon painting is the same as the word for writing, sometimes called icon writing.

🕯️Icons are often illuminated with candles or oil lamps, traditionally beeswax or olive oil.

Key Points

Many Christians believe picture-making began very early in the life of the church and never really stopped.

In the fourth century, a church writer named Eusebius told stories of portraits of Jesus and the apostles in churches.

A story tells of Constantia, who asked Eusebius for a picture of Jesus and was refused.

Long ago, in the 700s and 800s, a big fight began over pictures of Jesus and the saints.

Some icons were called Acheiropoieta, a Greek word meaning “not made by hands.”

Icons are full of signs that tell a story quickly.

Eastern Orthodox Christians think icons are more than pretty pictures.

Byzantine Empire icons — painted pictures of Jesus, Mary, and saints — were central in churches and in homes.

The Catholic Church in the West also used pictures and statues to help people pray and learn Bible stories.

Photos of Icon

Image by Andrew Stephen Damick;, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0

Icon — photo 1

Icon — photo 2

Icon — photo 3

📘 Where Icons Came From

Many Christians believe picture-making began very early in the life of the church and never really stopped. Art historians find the oldest surviving Christian pictures from about the 200s AD, and those connect to images known in the 400s. A popular story says Luke the Evangelist painted the first pictures of Jesus and Mary, but historians think that legend grew later and may not be plain history.

Some scholars say early Christians did not use many pictures until around 200 AD. Reasons include concern about showing God as a human, worry about copying pagan art, and practical limits like needing land and money for art. As Christians became more settled and wealthier, more images appeared.

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🔎 Early Accounts Of Images: Eusebius And Others (to 425 Ad)

In the fourth century, a church writer named Eusebius told stories of portraits of Jesus and the apostles in churches. He also mentioned a bronze statue near Mount Hermon that some people thought showed Jesus. Later writers and local traditions added tales of miraculous pictures, like an image said to be sent to the city of Edessa.

Scholars read these reports carefully. Some think the statue Eusebius named was really an old pagan statue whose meaning was forgotten. Eusebius himself worried that making pictures of Christ’s human form might lead people to treat him like a pagan god, so he urged caution.

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🧭 From Theodosius To Justinian: Growing Use And Debate

A story tells of Constantia, who asked Eusebius for a picture of Jesus and was refused. Eusebius argued that depicting Christ’s human form broke God’s command and risked pagan errors. Because of this view, some historians call him an early opponent of images.

After Emperor Constantine made Christianity legal about 313 AD, many people who had been pagans became Christians, and visual images spread more widely. By the early fifth century, private homes had small icons of saints, and by about 480–500 AD, church shrines and tombs were often decorated with pictures and portraits left by visitors.

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💡 The Iconoclast Period (when Icons Were Banned)

Long ago, in the 700s and 800s, a big fight began over pictures of Jesus and the saints. This time is called Iconoclasm, which means “breaking images.” Some emperors, like Leo III and Constantine V, thought pictures should not be worshipped and made rules to remove or cover them. Other people believed these pictures helped them pray and learn about faith.

The argument continued for many years. Councils met and rulers changed their minds. Finally, after fights and rules back and forth, leaders restored the right to keep and honor icons. These events shaped how people made and protected icons afterward.

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🌟 Images “not Made By Hands” (acheiropoieta)

Some icons were called Acheiropoieta, a Greek word meaning “not made by hands.” People believed these special images appeared miraculously and were painted by God or copied in a miracle. Stories about these icons made people feel the pictures were extra holy and worth protecting.

During the icon fights, leaders sometimes banned images, but other rulers and councils defended these miracle-linked icons. When the right to honor icons was finally restored, these special images helped many people trust that icons could be a real part of prayer and church life.

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🧩 How Icons Use Symbols

Icons are full of signs that tell a story quickly. Artists used two common faces long ago: one with short, frizzy hair and another with a beard and middle-parted hair. These choices helped viewers recognize who was pictured. People also started saying icons could help and even work miracles, especially by the 500s and later.

Legends grew around icons—for example, a storyteller said a painter who copied the wrong style lost the use of his hands, a way of saying copying sacred images without care was wrong. These stories and styles helped viewers know what the image meant.

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🗺️ What Eastern Orthodox Christians Teach About Icons

Eastern Orthodox Christians think icons are more than pretty pictures. An icon is a small, written form of teaching, like a picture version of the gospel, so believers call it a visible gospel. Every part is meaningful: halos show holiness, angels have wings, and careful poses tell who is who.

Colors also carry messages. Gold stands for heaven, red for divine life, blue for human life, and white for the bright, holy light of resurrection. Jesus and Mary are painted with special colors to show both human and divine sides. Tiny writing often names the people in the picture so everyone can learn from it.

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🔬 Icons In The Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire icons — painted pictures of Jesus, Mary, and saints — were central in churches and in homes. Constantinople (today called Istanbul) was the main place where artists made and cared for these pictures. Over the centuries many early icons were lost or destroyed during times when people opposed images, and when armies took treasures away in the years 1204 and 1453.

Because of those losses, only a few icons from the 1000s remain. Later Byzantine painters favored bright colors, gold backgrounds, and calm, careful faces to show that these figures were holy and different from everyday people. This look influenced artists across many lands.

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📘 How The Catholic Church Looked At Icons

The Catholic Church in the West also used pictures and statues to help people pray and learn Bible stories. Catholics usually "venerate" images — that means they show honor and use them as a way to think about God — but worship is reserved for God alone, not for the picture itself.

Western churches often used altars, paintings, stained glass, and three‑dimensional statues rather than the tall picture‑screens that grew in the East. Over time both East and West began to paint more feeling into holy figures so people could connect with them; some famous Eastern images, like the Theotokos of Vladimir, show this softer, more emotional touch.

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🧠 Take the Quiz about Icon

Question 1 of 5

What is an icon used for in many Christian churches?

Question 2 of 5

According to Eusebius, why should Christians be cautious about making pictures of Jesus?

Question 3 of 5

Acheiropoieta are icons that people believed were...

Question 4 of 5

In Eastern Orthodox teaching, an icon is like a visible gospel. What does this mean?

Question 5 of 5

What happened to the spread of visual images (icons) after Constantine made Christianity legal?

Your results

Answer all 5 questions to see how you did.

Frequently asked questions

What is an icon and why do people use them?

Icons are special religious pictures used in many Christian churches, often showing Jesus, Mary, saints, or angels. People use them to remember Bible stories, to pray, or to feel close to holy people. They can be paintings on wood or other forms like mosaics, frescoes, embroidered cloths, carved stone, or metalwork, and they are made to teach and inspire with careful meaning.

Where did icons come from?

Oldest surviving Christian pictures date from about the 200s AD, and a popular story says Luke the Evangelist painted the first pictures of Jesus and Mary, though historians think that legend grew later. Early Christians did not use many pictures until around 200 AD, and as Christians became settled and wealthier, more images appeared.

What did Eusebius think about pictures of Jesus?

In the fourth century, Eusebius told stories of portraits of Jesus and the apostles in churches, and he worried that making pictures of Christ's human form might lead people to treat him like a pagan god, so he urged caution.

What was the Iconoclasm period about?

In the 700s and 800s, a big fight over pictures of Jesus and the saints began, called Iconoclasm. Some emperors banned or removed images because they thought they should not be worshipped, while others believed images helped people pray and learn about faith. Councils debated and rulers changed their minds, and eventually leaders restored the right to honor icons.

What are Acheiropoieta (images not made by hands)?

Acheiropoieta are icons believed to have appeared miraculously or been copied in a miracle. During the icon fights, leaders sometimes banned images, but other rulers and councils defended these miracle-linked icons, and when the right to honor icons was restored, these special images helped people trust that icons could be part of prayer.

How do icons use symbols to tell a story?

Icons are full of signs that tell a story quickly. Artists used two common faces a long time ago—one with short, frizzy hair and another with a beard and middle-parted hair—to help viewers recognize who is pictured. Colors carry messages, with gold for heaven, red for divine life, blue for human life, and white for the bright, holy light of resurrection; halos show holiness, and tiny writing often names the people in the picture.