Byzantine Iconoclasm

A rare fresco of the Virgin Mary recently discovered on the island of Naxos by the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades is expected to shed light on the history of Byzantine painting in the Aegean before the era of the iconoclastic controversy which sought to the ban the veneration of religious images in 8th century.

The president of Thessaloniki's Macedonian Center for Contemporary Art, Petros Kamaras, delivers a speech at the 1980 opening of the first exhibition at the newly established institution, featuring works by Theophilos.

Ιt was her moment. But the fear of failure held her back. She would have preferred to be anywhere but there. Just before she took her place on the starting block at the European Aquatics Championships in 2021, Greek swimmer Theodora (Nora) Drakou broke down in tears. "I didn't want to go out," she recalls.

The first Sunday of Great Lent was declared a feast of Orthodoxy in 843 to celebrate the triumph of the orthodox view over iconoclasm, the heresy that icons should not be venerated, and over all heresies.

Photo credit (c): ANGELO BREZOIANU / AGERPRES FILES