Involves

Moment

An image celebrates the return of images

Constantinople, 843; the restoration of icons is later commemorated in paint

The restoration of icon veneration in 843 ended the second period of official Byzantine iconoclasm. A much later icon, now in the British Museum, commemorates that outcome. It shows Empress Theodora and her son Michael III among figures associated with the restoration, with a sacred image prominently displayed inside the painting.

Event
Restoration of icons
Year
843
Later image
Triumph of Orthodoxy

The caveat

The surviving icon dates from the late Byzantine period, centuries after 843. It is not an eyewitness picture of the restoration. The museum's account also cautions against reading its assembled holy figures as a literal record of everyone present together.

The composition makes a visual argument about the legitimacy of images by presenting one being honored. Its subject is a historical reversal, but the painting also belongs to the later community that preserved and celebrated that memory. The object carries an interpretation of the conflict alongside a representation of its victors.

How it connects

The commemorative painting uses an image to defend the legitimacy of images.

This moment appeared in Why an image can become a battleground, the Involves connection for October 1, 2026, which asked: What are people trying to change when they attack a symbol?

Check yourself

What kind of evidence is the surviving Triumph of Orthodoxy icon?

A later commemoration of the restoration of icons in 843. Exactly. The painting records a later interpretation of an earlier restoration.

What the sources establish

  • The late Byzantine Triumph of Orthodoxy icon commemorates the restoration of 843 and depicts Theodora and Michael III.

Sources