The creation of icons and the intermittent periods of iconoclasm during the Byzantine era sheds new light on debate over the Second Commandment. How do you see Byzantine art in light of last week’s discussion of graven images?
Personally, the art is great, but the flavor is excessively religious. I’m not heavy on religion but based on the rules, id view this era as contradicting the second commandment. We can see the use of icons in all three sub wings, early, middle and late Byzantine. Some may argue that it was for teaching purposes but the art seems excessively decorative for merely being a teaching tool