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Icon

An icon is a sacred image used in religious devotions. It is an image of a saint or other holy personage. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, saints and angels.  Although especially associated with portrait-style images concentrating on one or two main figures, the term ‘icon’ also covers most religious images in a variety of artistic media produced by Eastern Christianity, including narrative scenes, usually from the Bible or the lives of saints. The term “icon” derives from the Greek word eikōn, meaning ‘likeness’, and it has also been applied to sacred images of the Byzantine Church and the Orthodox Churches of Russia and Greece.






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