Editing Iconoclasm (section)

== Iconoclasm in Christian history ==
[[File:Edfu47.JPG|thumb|Defaced relief of [[Horus]] and [[Isis]] in the [[Temple of Edfu]], Egypt. Local Christians engaged in campaigns of [[proselytism]] and iconoclasm.]]
[[File:2014-07-28 iconoclast.jpg|thumb|Saint Benedict's monks destroy an image of [[Apollo]], worshiped in the [[Roman Empire]].]]
Scattered expressions of [[Aniconism in Christianity|opposition to the use of images]] have been reported: the [[Synod of Elvira]] appeared to endorse iconoclasm; Canon 36 states, "Pictures are not to be placed in churches, so that they do not become objects of worship and adoration."<ref>{{Citation|title=Elvira canons|url=http://faculty.cua.edu/pennington/canon%20Law/ElviraCanons.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716202800/http://faculty.cua.edu/pennington/Canon%20Law/ElviraCanons.htm|publisher=Cua|quote=Placuit picturas in ecclesia esse non debere, ne quod colitur et adoratur in parietibus depingatur|archive-date=2012-07-16|url-status=dead}}.</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=The Catholic Encyclopedia|quote=This canon has often been urged against the veneration of images as practised in the Catholic Church. [[Anton Joseph Binterim|Binterim]], De Rossi, and [[Karl Josef von Hefele|Hefele]] interpret this prohibition as directed against the use of images in overground churches only, lest the pagans should caricature sacred scenes and ideas; [[Franz Xaver von Funk|Von Funk]], Termel, and [[Henri Leclercq]] opine that the council did not pronounce as to the liceity or non-liceity of the use of images, but as an administrative measure simply forbade them, lest new and weak converts from paganism should incur thereby any danger of relapse into idolatry, or be scandalized by certain superstitious excesses in no way approved by the ecclesiastical authority.}}</ref> A possible translation is also: "There shall be no pictures in the church, lest what is worshipped and adored should be depicted on the walls."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Grigg |first=Robert |date=1976-12-01 |title=Aniconic Worship and the Apologetic Tradition: A Note on Canon 36 of the Council of Elvira |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3164346 |journal=Church History |volume=45 |issue=4 |pages=428–433 |doi=10.2307/3164346 |jstor=3164346 |s2cid=162369274 |issn=0009-6407|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The date of this canon is disputed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Council of Elvira, ca. 306 |url=http://faculty.cua.edu/pennington/Canon%20Law/ElviraCanons.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160229093214/http://faculty.cua.edu/pennington/Canon%20Law/ElviraCanons.htm |archive-date=2016-02-29 |access-date=2023-04-17 }}</ref> [[Proscription]] ceased after the destruction of pagan temples. However, [[Christian art|widespread use of Christian iconography]] only began as Christianity increasingly spread among Gentiles after the [[Christianity in the 4th century|legalization of Christianity]] by Roman Emperor [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]] (c.&nbsp;312 AD). During [[Constantinian shift|the process of Christianisation]] under Constantine, Christian groups destroyed the images and sculptures expressive of the [[Roman Empire]]'s [[polytheist]] state religion.

Among early church theologians, iconoclastic tendencies were supported by theologians such as [[Tertullian]],<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Dimmick|first1=Jeremy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mBNREAAAQBAJ&dq=Tertullian+iconoclast&pg=PA40|title=Images, Idolatry, and Iconoclasm in Late Medieval England: Textuality and the Visual Image|last2=Simpson|first2=James|last3=Zeeman|first3=Nicolette|year=2002|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-154196-4|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Jensen|first=Robin Margaret|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Djs3n8i1Tn8C&dq=Tertullian+iconoclast&pg=PA184|title=Understanding Early Christian Art|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-95170-2|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Strezova|first=Anita|date=2013-11-25|title=Overview on Iconophile and Iconoclastic Attitudes toward Images in Early Christianity and Late Antiquity|url=https://www.academia.edu/26284488|journal=Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies}}</ref> [[Clement of Alexandria]],<ref name=":0" /> [[Origen]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=O'Gorman|first=Ned|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A94pCwAAQBAJ&dq=Iconoclasm+Origen&pg=PA217|title=The Iconoclastic Imagination: Image, Catastrophe, and Economy in America from the Kennedy Assassination to September 11|date=2016|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-31023-7|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> [[Lactantius]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Humphreys|first=Mike|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KrJFEAAAQBAJ&dq=Lactantius+iconoclasm&pg=PA138|title=A Companion to Byzantine Iconoclasm|date=2021|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-46200-7|language=en}}</ref> [[Justin Martyr]],<ref name=":4" /> [[Eusebius]] and [[Epiphanius of Salamis|Epiphanius]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>Kitzinger, 92–93, 92 quoted</ref>

=== Byzantine era ===
{{Further|Council of Constantinople (843)|Byzantine Iconoclasm}}[[File:Clasm Chludov detail 9th century.jpg|thumb|[[Byzantine Iconoclasm]], [[Chludov Psalter]], 9th century<ref>{{cite web|title=Byzantine iconoclasm|url=http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/1320Hist&Civ/slides/14islam/iconoclasm.JPG|access-date=2013-04-30}}</ref>]]The period after the reign of [[Byzantine Emperor]] [[Justinian]] (527–565) evidently saw a huge increase in the use of images, both in volume and quality, and a gathering aniconic reaction.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

One notable change within the [[Byzantine Empire]] came in 695, when [[Justinian II]]'s government added a full-face image of Christ on the [[obverse]] of imperial gold coins. The change caused the [[Caliph]] [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|Abd al-Malik]] to stop his earlier adoption of Byzantine coin types. He started a purely Islamic coinage with lettering only.<ref name="RC">[[Robin Cormack|Cormack, Robin]]. 1985. ''Writing in Gold, Byzantine Society and its Icons''. London: George Philip. {{ISBN|0-540-01085-5}}.</ref> A letter by the [[Patriarch Germanus I|Patriarch Germanus]], written before 726 to two iconoclast bishops, says that "now whole towns and multitudes of people are in considerable agitation over this matter," but there is little written evidence of the debate.<ref>[[Cyril Mango|Mango, Cyril]]. 1977. "Historical Introduction." pp. 2–3 in ''Iconoclasm'', edited by Bryer & Herrin. Birmingham: Centre for Byzantine Studies, [[University of Birmingham]]. {{ISBN|0-7044-0226-2}}.</ref>

Government-led iconoclasm began with Byzantine Emperor [[Leo III the Isaurian|Leo&nbsp;III]], who issued a series of [[edict]]s between 726 and 730 against the [[veneration]] of images.<ref>[[Warren Treadgold|Treadgold, Warren]]. 1997. ''A History of the Byzantine State and Society''. [[Stanford University Press]]. pp. 350, 352–353.</ref> The religious conflict created political and economic divisions in Byzantine society; iconoclasm was generally supported by the Eastern, poorer, non-Greek peoples of the Empire who had to frequently deal with raids from the new Muslim Empire.<ref name=":1">[[Cyril Mango|Mango, Cyril]]. 2002. ''The Oxford History of Byzantium''. [[Oxford University Press]].</ref> On the other hand, the wealthier Greeks of [[Constantinople]] and the peoples of the Balkan and Italian provinces strongly opposed iconoclasm.<ref name=":1" />
<!-- this should come out since there is a main article on the subject - it just needs to be introduced here
===The first iconoclastic period: 730–787===
Sometime between 726 and 730, the Byzantine Emperor [[Leo III the Isaurian]] began the iconoclast campaign.<ref>Cf. (ed.) F. GIOIA, ''The Popes – Twenty Centuries of History'', Libreria Editrice Vaticana (2005), p. 40.</ref>  He ordered the removal of an image of [[Jesus]] prominently placed over the [[Chalke]] gate, the ceremonial entrance to the [[Great Palace of Constantinople]], and its replacement with a cross.  Some of those assigned to the task were killed by a band of [[iconodules]].<ref name="theoph1">see Theophanes, ''Chronographia''.</ref>

Over the years conflict developed between those who wanted to use the images, claiming that they were "icons" to be "venerated", and the iconoclasts who claimed they were simply idols. [[Pope Gregory&nbsp;III]] "convoked a synod in 730 and formally condemned iconoclasm as heretical and excommunicated its promoters.  The papal letter never reached Constantinople as the messengers were intercepted and arrested in Sicily by the Byzantines".<ref>Cf. (ed.) F. GIOIA, ''The Popes – Twenty Centuries of History'', Libreria Editrice Vaticana (2005), p. 41.</ref> The Byzantine Emperor [[Constantine&nbsp;V]] convened the [[Council of Hieria]] in 754.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chinstitute.org/index.php/chm/eighth-century/icons/ |title=Issue 54: Eastern Orthodoxy &#124; Christian History Magazine |publisher=Chinstitute.org |access-date=2013-04-30}}</ref> The 338 bishops assembled concluded, "the unlawful art of painting living creatures blasphemed the fundamental doctrine of our salvation—namely, the Incarnation of Christ, and contradicted the six holy synods&nbsp;... If anyone shall endeavour to represent the forms of the Saints in lifeless pictures with material colours which are of no value (for this notion is vain and introduced by the devil), and does not rather represent their virtues as living images in himself, etc&nbsp;... let him be anathema". This Council claimed to be the legitimate "Seventh Ecumenical Council".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/icono-cncl754.asp |title=Internet History Sourcebooks Project |publisher=Fordham.edu |access-date=2013-04-30}}</ref>

===Second Council of Nicaea 787===
[[File:Seventh ecumenical council (Icon).jpg|thumb|An [[icon]] of the [[Seventh Ecumenical Council]] (17th century, [[Novodevichy Convent]], Moscow).]]
{{Main|Second Council of Nicaea}}
In 780, Constantine&nbsp;VI ascended the throne in Constantinople, but being a minor, was managed by his mother Empress [[Irene of Athens|Irene]].  She decided that an ecumenical council needed to be held to address the issue of iconoclasm and directed this request to [[Pope Adrian I]] (772–795) in Rome.  He announced his agreement and called the convention on 1 August 786 in the presence of the Emperor and Empress.  The initial proceedings were interrupted by the violent entry of iconoclast soldiers faithful to the memory of the prior Emperor Constantine&nbsp;V.  This caused the council to be adjourned until a reliable army could be assembled to protect any proceedings. The council was reassembled at [[Nicaea]] 24 September 787.  During those proceedings the following was adopted:

{{quote|... we declare that we defend free from any innovations all the written and unwritten ecclesiastical traditions that have been entrusted to us. One of these is the production of representational art; this is quite in harmony with the history of the spread of the gospel, as it provides confirmation that the becoming man of the Word of God was real and not just imaginary, and as it brings us a similar benefit.  For, things that mutually illustrate one another undoubtedly possess one another's message.

 ... we decree with full precision and care that, like the figure of the honoured and life-giving cross, the revered and holy images, whether painted or made of mosaic or of other suitable material, are to be exposed in the holy churches of God, on sacred instruments and vestments, on walls and panels, in houses and by public ways; these are the images of our Lord, God and saviour, Jesus Christ, and of our Lady without blemish, the holy God-bearer, and of the revered angels and of any of the saintly holy men.  The more frequently they are seen in representational art, the more are those who see them drawn to remember and long for those who serve as models, and to pay these images the tribute of salutation and respectful veneration. Certainly this is not the full adoration in accordance with our faith, which is properly paid only to the divine nature, but it resembles that given to the figure of the honoured and life-giving cross, and also to the holy books of the gospels and to other sacred cult objects.<ref name="Tanner, Norman P. p. 132–136">Tanner, Norman P., Alberigo, G., Dossetti, J. A., Joannou, P. P., Leonardi, C., and Prodi, P., ''Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils Volume OneNicaea I to Lateran V'', pp. 132–136, Sheed & Ward and Georgetown University Press, London and Washington, D.C., {{ISBN|0-87840-490-2}}</ref>}}

(Note:see<ref name="Tanner, Norman P. p. 132–136"/> also for the original pretranslation text of this council in Greek and Latin)

===Views in Byzantine iconoclasm===
Accounts of iconoclast arguments are largely found in iconodule writings.  To understand iconoclastic arguments, one must note the main points:
# Iconoclasm condemned the making of any lifeless image (e.g.,&nbsp;painting or statue) that was intended to represent Jesus or one of the saints. The "Epitome of the Definition of the Iconoclastic Conciliabulum" ([[Synod of Hiereia]]) held in 754 declared:<ref name="hieria1"/>

{{quote|Supported by [[the Holy Scriptures]] and the Fathers, we declare unanimously, in the name of the Holy Trinity, that there shall be rejected and removed and cursed one of the [[Christian Church]] every likeness which is made out of any material and colour whatever by the evil art of painters&nbsp;... If anyone ventures to represent the divine image (χαρακτήρ, ''charaktēr'') of the Word after the Incarnation with material colours, let him be anathema!&nbsp;... If anyone shall endeavour to represent the forms of the Saints in lifeless pictures with material colours which are of no value (for this notion is vain and introduced by the devil), and does not rather represent their virtues as living images in himself, let him be anathema!}}

#  For iconoclasts, the only real religious image must be an exact likeness of the prototype—of the same substance—which they considered impossible, seeing wood and paint as empty of spirit and life.  Thus for iconoclasts the only true (and permitted) "icon" of Jesus was the [[Eucharist]], which was believed to be his body and blood.
#  Any true image of Jesus must be able to represent both his divine nature (which is impossible because it cannot be seen nor encompassed) as well his human nature.  But by making an icon of Jesus, one is separating his human and divine natures, since only the human can be depicted (separating the natures was considered [[nestorianism]]), or else confusing the human and divine natures, considering them one (union of the human and divine natures was considered [[monophysitism]]).
#  Icon use for religious purposes was viewed as an innovation in the Church, a Satanic misleading of Christians to return to pagan practice.

<blockquote>Satan misled men, so that they worshipped the creature instead of the Creator. The Law of Moses and the Prophets cooperated to remove this ruin.&nbsp;... But the previously mentioned demiurge of evil&nbsp;... gradually brought back idolatry under the appearance of Christianity.<ref name="hieria1">{{citation |title=Epitome of the Iconoclast Council at Hieria, 754 AD |url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/icono-cncl754.html |publisher=[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html Internet Medieval Sourcebook] |postscript=,}} also available from [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.xvi.x.html Christian Classics Ethereal Library]</ref></blockquote>

It was also seen as a departure from ancient church tradition, of which there was a written record opposing religious images.
[[File:Triumph of Orthodoxy.jpg|thumb|288px|Triumph of Orthodoxy]]
The chief theological opponents of iconoclasm were the monks Mansur ([[John of Damascus]]), who, living in Muslim territory as advisor to the Caliph of Damascus, was far enough away from the Byzantine emperor to evade retribution, and [[Theodore the Studite]], abbot of the [[Stoudios]] monastery in Constantinople.  John declared that he did not venerate matter, "but rather the creator of matter".  However he also declared, "But I also venerate the matter through which salvation came to me, as if filled with divine energy and grace". He includes in this latter category the ink in which the gospels were written as well as the paint of images, the wood of the Cross, and the Body and Blood of Jesus.

The iconodule response to iconoclasm included:
#  Assertion that the biblical commandment forbidding images of God had been superseded by the incarnation of Jesus, who, being the Second Person of the Trinity, is God incarnate in visible matter. Therefore, they were not depicting the invisible God, but God as He appeared in the flesh. This became an attempt to shift the issue of the incarnation in their favor, whereas the iconoclasts had used the issue of the incarnation against them.
#  Further, in their view idols depicted persons without substance or reality while icons depicted real persons. Essentially the argument was "all religious images not of our faith are idols; all images of our faith are icons to be venerated". This was considered comparable to [[Old Testament|the Old Testament]] practice of offering burnt sacrifices only to God, and not to any other gods.
#  Moses had been instructed by God according to Exodus 25<ref>{{bibleverse||Exodus|25:18–22|NKJV}}</ref> to make golden statues of [[cherubim]] angels on the lid of the [[Ark of the Covenant]], and according to Exodus 26<ref>''Bible'', {{bibleverse||Exodus|26:31|NKJV}}</ref> God instructed Moses to embroider the curtain which separated the [[Holy of Holies]] in the [[Tabernacle]] with cherubim. Moses had also been told by God to embroider the tent walls of the Tabernacle with cherubim angels according to Exodus 26<ref>''Bible'', {{bibleverse||Exodus|26:1|NKJV}}</ref> and Exodus 36.<ref>''Bible'', {{bibleverse||Exodus|36:8|NKJV}}</ref>
#  Regarding the written tradition opposing the making and veneration of images, they asserted that icons were part of unrecorded oral tradition (''parádosis'', sanctioned in Christianity as authoritative in doctrine by reference to Thessalonians 2<ref>''Bible'', {{bibleverse|2|Thessalonians|2:15|NKJV}}</ref>, [[Basil the Great]], etc.).
#  Arguments were drawn from the miraculous [[Acheiropoieta]], the supposed icon of the Virgin painted with her approval by St.&nbsp;Luke, and other miraculous occurrences around icons, that demonstrated divine approval of Iconodule practices.
#  Iconodules further argued that decisions such as whether icons ought to be venerated were properly made by the church assembled in council, not imposed on the church by an emperor. Thus the argument also involved the issue of the proper relationship between church and state. Related to this was the observation that it was foolish to deny to God the same honor that was freely given to the human emperor.
 -->

=== Pre-Reformation ===
[[Peter of Bruys]] opposed the usage of religious images,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kim|first=Elijah Jong Fil|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tl5NAwAAQBAJ&dq=Peter+of+Bruys+reformation&pg=PA201|title=The Rise of the Global South: The Decline of Western Christendom and the Rise of Majority World Christianity|date=2012|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=978-1-61097-970-2|language=en}}</ref> the [[Strigolniki]] were also possibly iconoclastic.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Michalski|first=Sergiusz|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PM2sDPFP9dEC&q=Reformation+and+the+Visual+Arts%3A+The+Protestant+Image+Question+in+Western|title=Reformation and the Visual Arts: The Protestant Image Question in Western and Eastern Europe|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-92102-7|language=en}}</ref> [[Claudius of Turin]] was the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Turin|bishop of Turin]] from 817 until his death.<ref name="ODCC">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary00late/page/359|title=The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church|edition=3rd|year=1997|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-211655-X|editor1=F. L. Cross|location=US|page=[https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary00late/page/359 359]|editor2=E. A. Livingstone}}</ref> He is most noted for teaching iconoclasm.<ref name="ODCC" />

===Reformation era===
{{further|Beeldenstorm|Iconophobia#Iconophobia and the English Reformation}}
[[File:Tachtigjarigeoorlog-1566.png|thumb|Extent (in blue) of the ''[[Beeldenstorm]]'' through the [[Spanish Netherlands]]]]
The first iconoclastic wave happened in [[Wittenberg]] in the early 1520s under reformers [[Thomas Müntzer]] and [[Andreas Karlstadt]]. In 1522 Karlstadt published his tract, [https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Von_abtuhung_der_Bylder "Von abtuhung der Bylder."] ("On the removal of images"), which added to the growing unrest in Wittenberg.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lindberg |first=Carter |title=The European reformations |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-119-64081-3 |edition=3rd |location=Chichester, United Kingdom Hoboken, New Jersey |pages=84–91}}</ref> [[Martin Luther]], then concealed under the pen-name of 'Junker Jörg', intervened to calm things down. Luther argued that the mental picturing of Christ when reading the Scriptures was similar in character to artistic renderings of Christ.<ref>[[Isaak August Dorner|Dorner, Isaak August]]. 1871. [https://books.google.com/books?id=AgRBAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22The+Scripture+has+pictures%22&pg=PA146 ''History of Protestant Theology'']. Edinburgh. p. 146.</ref>

In contrast to the [[Lutheran]]s who favoured certain types of sacred art in their churches and homes,<ref name="Lamport2017">{{cite book |last=Lamport |first=Mark A. |title=Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation |year=2017 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |language=en|isbn=978-1442271593 |page=138 |quote=Lutherans continued to worship in pre-Reformation churches, generally with few alterations to the interior. It has even been suggested that in Germany to this day one finds more ancient Marian altarpieces in Lutheran than in Catholic churches. Thus in Germany and in Scandinavia many pieces of medieval art and architecture survived. [[Joseph Koerner]] has noted that Lutherans, seeing themselves in the tradition of the ancient, apostolic church, sought to defend as well as reform the use of images. "An empty, white-washed church proclaimed a wholly spiritualized cult, at odds with Luther's doctrine of Christ's real presence in the sacraments" (Koerner 2004, 58). In fact, in the 16th century some of the strongest opposition to destruction of images came not from Catholics but from Lutherans against Calvinists: "You black Calvinist, you give permission to smash our pictures and hack our crosses; we are going to smash you and your Calvinist priests in return" (Koerner 2004, 58). Works of art continued to be displayed in Lutheran churches, often including an imposing large crucifix in the sanctuary, a clear reference to Luther's ''theologia crucis''. ... In contrast, Reformed (Calvinist) churches are strikingly different. Usually unadorned and somewhat lacking in aesthetic appeal, pictures, sculptures, and ornate altar-pieces are largely absent; there are few or no candles; and crucifixes or crosses are also mostly absent.}}</ref><ref name="Felix2015"/> the [[Reformed tradition|Reformed]] (Calvinist) leaders, in particular [[Andreas Karlstadt]], [[Huldrych Zwingli]] and [[John Calvin]], encouraged the removal of religious images by invoking the [[Ten Commandments|Decalogue's]] prohibition of idolatry and the manufacture of graven (sculpted) images of God.<ref name="Felix2015">{{cite book |last=Félix |first=Steven |title=Pentecostal Aesthetics: Theological Reflections in a Pentecostal Philosophy of Art and Esthetics |year= 2015 |publisher=[[Brill Academic Publishers]] |language=en |isbn=978-9004291621 |page=22 |quote=Luther's view was that biblical images could be used as teaching aids, and thus had didactic value. Hence Luther stood against the destruction of images whereas several other reformers (Karlstadt, Zwingli, Calvin) promoted these actions. In the following passage, Luther harshly rebukes Karlstadt on his stance on iconoclasm and his disorderly conduct in reform.}}</ref> As a result, individuals attacked statues and images, most famously in the ''[[beeldenstorm]]'' across the Low Countries in 1566.

The belief of iconoclasm caused havoc throughout [[Europe]]. In 1523, specifically due to the Swiss reformer [[Huldrych Zwingli]], a vast number of his followers viewed themselves as being involved in a spiritual community that in matters of faith should obey neither the visible Church nor lay authorities. According to Peter George Wallace "Zwingli's attack on images, at the first debate, triggered iconoclastic incidents in Zürich and the villages under civic jurisdiction that the reformer was unwilling to condone." Due to this action of protest against authority, "Zwingli responded with a carefully reasoned treatise that men could not live in society without laws and constraint".<ref>Wallace, Peter George. 2004. ''The Long European Reformation: Religion, Political Conflict, and the Search for Conformity, 1350–1750''. Basingstoke, UK: [[Palgrave Macmillan]]. p.&nbsp;95.</ref>

Significant iconoclastic riots took place in [[Basel]] (in 1529), [[Zürich]] (1523), [[Copenhagen]] (1530), [[Münster]] (1534), [[Geneva]] (1535), [[Augsburg]] (1537), [[Scotland]] (1559), [[Rouen]] (1560), and [[Saintes, Charente-Maritime|Saintes]] and [[La Rochelle]] (1562).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ekSkZXXjVWUC&pg=RA1-PA148 |title=Neil Kamil, ''Fortress of the soul: violence, metaphysics, and material life'', p. 148 |access-date=2013-04-30|isbn=978-0801873904 |last1=Kamil |first1=Neil |date=2005 |publisher=JHU Press }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Voracious Idols and Violent Hands|last=Wandel|first=Lee Palmer|publisher=Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge|year=1995|isbn=978-0-521-47222-7|location=Cambridge, UK|pages=[https://archive.org/details/voraciousidolsvi0000wand/page/149 149]|url=https://archive.org/details/voraciousidolsvi0000wand/page/149}}</ref> Calvinist iconoclasm in Europe "provoked reactive riots by Lutheran mobs" in Germany and "antagonized the neighbouring [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]]" in the Baltic region.<ref name="Marshall2009">{{cite book|last=Marshall|first=Peter|title=The Reformation|url=https://archive.org/details/reformationverys00mars|url-access=limited|date=22 October 2009|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|language=en|isbn=978-0191578885|page=[https://archive.org/details/reformationverys00mars/page/n122 114]|quote=Iconoclastic incidents during the Calvinist 'Second Reformation' in Germany provoked reactive riots by Lutheran mobs, while Protestant image-breaking in the Baltic region deeply antagonized the neighbouring Eastern Orthodox, a group with whom reformers might have hoped to make common cause.}}</ref>

The [[Seventeen Provinces]] (now the Netherlands, Belgium, and parts of Northern France) were disrupted by widespread Calvinist iconoclasm in the summer of 1566.<ref name="Kleiner2010">{{cite book|last=Kleiner|first=Fred S.|title=Gardner's Art through the Ages: A Concise History of Western Art|year=2010|publisher=Cengage Learning|language=en |isbn=978-1424069224|page=254|quote=In an episode known as the Great Iconoclasm, bands of Calvinists visited Catholic churches in the Netherlands in 1566, shattering stained-glass windows, smashing statues, and destroying paintings and other artworks they perceived as idolatrous.}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Calvinist iconoclasm during the Reformation" style="font-size:88%; line-height:130%; border-bottom:1px #aaa solid;" heights="210">
File:Destruction of icons in Zurich 1524.jpg|Destruction of religious images by the Reformed in [[Zürich]], Switzerland, 1524
File:Le Sac de Lyon par les Réformés - Vers1565.jpg|''[[Looting]] of the Churches of [[Lyon]] by the [[Calvinists]] in 1562'' by [[Antoine Caron]]
File:Iconoclasm Clocher Saint Barthelemy south side La Rochelle.jpg|Remains of Calvinist iconoclasm, Clocher Saint-Barthélémy, [[La Rochelle]], France
File:2008-09 Nijmegen st stevens beeldenstorm.JPG|16th-century iconoclasm in the [[Protestant Reformation]]. Relief statues in St.&nbsp;Stevenskerk in [[Nijmegen]], Netherlands, were attacked and defaced by Calvinists in the ''Beeldenstorm''.<ref name="Stark2007">{{cite book |last=Stark |first=Rodney |title=The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success|year=2007 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |language=en |isbn=978-1588365002 |page=176 |quote=The Beeldenstorm, or Iconoclastic Fury, involved roving bands of radical Calvinists who were utterly opposed to all religious images and decorations in churches and who acted on their beliefs by storming into Catholic churches and destroying all artwork and finery.}}</ref><ref name="Byfield2002">{{cite book |last=Byfield|first=Ted|title=A Century of Giants, A.D. 1500 to 1600: In an Age of Spiritual Genius, Western Christendom Shatters |year=2002 |publisher=Christian History Project |language=en |isbn=978-0968987391 |page=297 |quote=Devoutly Catholic but opposed to Inquisition tactics, they backed William of Orange in subduing the Calvinist uprising of the Dutch beeldenstorm on behalf of regent Margaret of Parma, and had come willingly to the council at her invitation.}}</ref>
</gallery>

[[File:Ed and pope.png|thumb|right|alt=A painting|288px|In this [[Elizabethan]] work of propaganda, the top right depicts men pulling down and smashing icons, while power is shifting from the dying King [[Henry VIII]] at left, pointing to his staunchly [[Protestantism|Protestant]] son, the boy-king [[Edward VI of England|Edward VI]] at centre.<ref>{{citation | last =Aston| first = Margaret| title =The King's Bedpost: Reformation and Iconography in a Tudor Group Portrait| year =1993 | publisher=Cambridge University Press| place = Cambridge| isbn =978-0-521-48457-2}}.
</ref><ref>{{citation | last =Loach | first = Jennifer | title =Edward VI |editor1-first=George |editor1-last=Bernard |editor2-first=Penry|editor2-last=Williams|  year =1999  | publisher=Yale University Press | place= New Haven, CT | isbn =978-0-300-07992-0 |page=187}}</ref><ref>{{citation | last =Hearn | first =Karen | title =Dynasties: Painting in Tudor and Jacobean England 1530–1630 | year =1995 | publisher =Rizzoli | place =New York | isbn =978-0-8478-1940-9 | url =https://archive.org/details/dynastiespaintin00kare |pages=75–76}}</ref>]]
During the [[Reformation in England]], which started during the reign of [[Henry VIII]], and was urged on by reformers such as [[Hugh Latimer]] and [[Thomas Cranmer]], limited official action was taken against religious images in churches in the late 1530s. Henry's young son, [[Edward VI]], came to the throne in 1547 and, under Cranmer's guidance, issued injunctions for religious reforms in the same year and in 1549 the [[Putting away of Books and Images Act 1549|Putting away of Books and Images Act]].<ref>Heal, Felicity (2005), [https://books.google.com/books?id=mtGoSCVhRFIC&dq=1550+statute+for+abolishing+images&pg=PA264 ''Reformation in Britain and Ireland''], Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-19-928015-5}} (pp. 263–264)</ref>

During the [[English Civil War]], the [[Roundhead|Parliamentarians]] reorganised the administration of [[East Anglia]] into the [[Eastern Association]] of counties. This covered some of the wealthiest counties in [[England]], which in turn financed a substantial and significant military force. After [[Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester|Earl of Manchester]] was appointed the commanding officer of these forces, in turn he appointed [[William Dowsing|Smasher Dowsing]] as [[Provost Marshal]], with a warrant to demolish religious images which were considered to be superstitious or linked with popism.<ref name="Evelyn White Dowsing 1886">{{cite journal |last1=Evelyn White |first1=Parliamentary Visitor |title=The Journal of William Dowsing, Parliamentary Visitor |journal=Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History |date=1886 |volume=VI |issue=Part 2 |pages=236 to 295 |url=https://suffolkinstitute.pdfsrv.co.uk/customers/Suffolk%20Institute/2014/01/10/Volume%20VI%20Part%202%20(1886)_Journal%20of%20W%20Dowsing%20Parliamentary%20Visitor%20&c%20E%20White%20C%20H_236%20to%20295.pdf|author1-link=Charles Harold Evelyn-White }}</ref> Bishop [[Joseph Hall (bishop)|Joseph Hall]] of [[Norwich]] described the events of 1643 when troops and citizens, encouraged by a Parliamentary ordinance against superstition and [[idolatry]], behaved thus:

<blockquote>Lord what work was here! What clattering of glasses! What beating down of walls! What tearing up of monuments! What pulling down of seats! What wresting out of irons and brass from the windows! What defacing of arms! What demolishing of curious stonework! What tooting and piping upon organ pipes! And what a hideous triumph in the market-place before all the country, when all the mangled organ pipes, vestments, both copes and surplices, together with the leaden cross which had newly been sawn down from the Green-yard pulpit and the service-books and singing books that could be carried to the fire in the public market-place were heaped together.</blockquote>

[[File:Altarpiece fragments late 1300 early 1400 destroyed during the English Dissolution mid 16th century.jpg|thumb|left|Altarpiece fragments (late 1300 – early 1400) destroyed during the English [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]], mid-16th century]]
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[[William Dowsing]] was commissioned and salaried by the government to tour the towns and villages of [[East Anglia]] to destroy images in churches. His detailed record of his trail of destruction through Suffolk and Cambridgeshire survives:<ref name="Dowsing">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/journalofdowsing00whituoft |title=The journal of William Dowsing of Stratford, parliamentary visitor, appointed under a warrant from the Earl of Manchester, for demolishing the superstitious pictures and ornaments of churches &c., within the county of Suffolk, in the years 1643–
1644 |year=1885 |last=White |first=C.H. Evelyn |page=[https://archive.org/details/journalofdowsing00whituoft/page/15 15] }}</ref>

{{Blockquote|We broke down about a hundred superstitious Pictures; and seven Fryars hugging a Nunn; and the Picture of God and Christ; and divers others very superstitious; and 200 had been broke down before I came. We took away 2 popish Inscriptions with ''Ora pro nobis'' and we beat down a great stoneing Cross on the top of the Church.|Dowsing,<ref name="Dowsing"/> p. 15, [[Haverhill, Suffolk]], January 6, 1644}}
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[[Protestantism|Protestant Christianity]] was not uniformly hostile to the use of religious images. Martin Luther taught the "importance of images as tools for instruction and aids to devotion,"<ref name="Naaeke2006">{{cite book|last=Naaeke|first=Anthony Y.|title=Kaleidoscope Catechesis: Missionary Catechesis in Africa, Particularly in the Diocese of Wa in Ghana|year=2006|publisher=Peter Lang|language=en|isbn=978-0820486857|page=114|quote=Although some reformers, such as John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli, rejected all images, Martin Luther defended the importance of images as tools for instruction and aids to devotion.}}</ref> stating: "If it is not a sin but good to have the image of Christ in my heart, why should it be a sin to have it in my eyes?"<ref name="Noble2009">{{cite book|last=Noble|first=Bonnie|title=Lucas Cranach the Elder: Art and Devotion of the German Reformation|url=https://archive.org/details/lucascranachelde00nobl_213|url-access=limited|year=2009|publisher=University Press of America|language=en|isbn=978-0761843375|pages=[https://archive.org/details/lucascranachelde00nobl_213/page/n75 67]–69}}</ref> Lutheran churches retained ornate church interiors with a prominent [[crucifix]], reflecting their high view of the real presence of Christ in [[Eucharist in Lutheranism|Eucharist]].<ref name="Spicer2016"/><ref name="Lamport2017"/> As such, "Lutheran worship became a complex ritual choreography set in a richly furnished church interior."<ref name="Spicer2016">{{cite book|last=Spicer|first=Andrew|title=Lutheran Churches in Early Modern Europe|year= 2016|publisher=Taylor & Francis|language=en|isbn=978-1351921169|page=237|quote=As it developed in north-eastern Germany, Lutheran worship became a complex ritual choreography set in a richly furnished church interior. This much is evident from the background of an epitaph pained in 1615 by Martin Schulz, destined for the Nikolaikirche in Berlin (see Figure 5.5.).}}</ref> For Lutherans, "the Reformation renewed rather than removed the religious image."<ref name="Dixon2012">{{cite book|last=Dixon|first=C. Scott|title=Contesting the Reformation|year=2012|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|language=en|isbn=978-1118272305|page=146|quote=According to Koerner, who dwells on Lutheran art, the Reformation renewed rather than removed the religious image.}}</ref>

Lutheran scholar Jeremiah Ohl writes:<ref>Ohl, Jeremiah F. 1906. "Art in Worship." pp. 83–99 in [https://blc.edu/comm/gargy/gargy1/Memoirs.Volume2.html ''Memoirs of the Lutheran Liturgical Association'' 2]. Pittsburgh: Lutheran Liturgical Association.</ref>{{Rp|88–89}}<blockquote>Zwingli and others for the sake of saving the Word rejected all plastic art; Luther, with an equal concern for the Word, but far more conservative, would have all the arts to be the servants of the Gospel. "I am not of the opinion" said [Luther], "that through the Gospel all the arts should be banished and driven away, as some zealots want to make us believe; but I wish to see them all, especially music, in the service of Him Who gave and created them." Again he says: "I have myself heard those who oppose pictures, read from my German Bible.... But this contains many pictures of God, of the angels, of men, and of animals, especially in the Revelation of St. John, in the books of Moses, and in the book of Joshua. We therefore kindly beg these fanatics to permit us also to paint these pictures on the wall that they may be remembered and better understood, inasmuch as they can harm as little on the walls as in books. Would to God that I could persuade those who can afford it to paint the whole Bible on their houses, inside and outside, so that all might see; this would indeed be a Christian work. For I am convinced that it is God's will that we should hear and learn what He has done, especially what Christ suffered. But when I hear these things and meditate upon them, I find it impossible not to picture them in my heart. Whether I want to or not, when I hear, of Christ, a human form hanging upon a cross rises up in my heart: just as I see my natural face reflected when I look into water. Now if it is not sinful for me to have Christ's picture in my heart, why should it be sinful to have it before my eyes?</blockquote>The Ottoman Sultan [[Suleiman the Magnificent]], who had pragmatic reasons to support the [[Dutch Revolt]] (the rebels, like himself, were fighting against Spain) also completely approved of their act of "destroying idols," which accorded well with Muslim teachings.<ref>{{cite book |last=İnalcık |first=Halil |author-link=Halil İnalcık |chapter=The Turkish Impact on the Development of Modern Europe | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=orEfAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA51 |editor-last=Karpat | editor-first=K. H. |editor-link=Kemal Karpat| title=The Ottoman State and Its Place in World History: Introduction | publisher=Brill | series=Armenian Research Center collection | year=1974 | isbn=978-90-04-03945-2 |location=Leiden |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=orEfAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA53 53] <!-- 51–60 -->}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BjC7K1j_AT8C&pg=PA208|title=Muslims and the Gospel: Bridging the Gap : a Reflection on Christian Sharing|first=Roland E.|last=Miller|year=2006|publisher=Kirk House Publishers|isbn=978-1932688078|via=Google Books}}</ref>

16th century Protestant iconoclasm had various effects on visual arts: it encouraged the development of art with violent images such as martyrdoms, of pieces whose subject was the dangers of idolatry, or art stripped of objects with overt Catholic symbolism: the [[still life]], [[landscape art|landscape]] and [[genre paintings]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Art after iconoclasm: painting in the Netherlands between 1566 and 1585 |date=2012 |publisher=Brepols |location=Turnhout |isbn=978-2-503-54596-7}}</ref>{{rp|44,25,40}}

=== Other instances ===
In Japan during the early modern age, the [[Christianity in Japan|spread of Catholicism]] also involved the repulsion of non-Christian religious structures, including Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines and figures. At times of conflict with rivals or some time after the conversion of several [[daimyo]]s, Christian converts would often destroy Buddhist and Shinto religious structures.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Strathern |first=Alan |date=2020 |title=The Many Meanings of Iconoclasm: Warrior and Christian Temple-Shrine Destruction in Late Sixteenth Century Japan |journal=Journal of Early Modern History |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=163–193 |doi=10.1163/15700658-bja10023 |s2cid=229468278 |issn=1385-3783|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Many of the [[moai]] of [[Easter Island]] were [[History of Easter Island#The "statue-toppling"|toppled during the 18th century]] in the iconoclasm of civil wars before any European encounter.<ref>{{cite book | last=Fischer | first=Steven Roger | title=Island at the end of the world: The turbulent history of Easter Island | publisher=Reaktion | publication-place=London | year=2006 | isbn=1-86189-282-9 | oclc=646808462 |page=64}}</ref> Other instances of iconoclasm may have occurred throughout Eastern Polynesia during its conversion to Christianity in the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wellington|first=Victoria University of|date=April 4, 2014|title=New view of Polynesian conversion to Christianity|url=https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/news/victorious/2013/autumn-2013/new-view-of-polynesian-conversion-to-christianity|website=Victoria University of Wellington}}</ref>

After the [[Second Vatican Council]] in the late 20th century, some Roman Catholic parish churches [[Wreckovation|discarded]] much of their traditional imagery and art which critics call iconoclasm.<ref>{{cite web|last=Chessman|first=Stuart|title=Hetzendorf and the Iconoclasm in the Second Half of the 20th Century|url=http://sthughofcluny.org/2011/02/hetzendorf-and-the-iconoclasm-in-the-second-half-of-the-20th-century.html|access-date=2013-04-30|publisher=The Society of St. Hugh of Cluny}}</ref>