Image Incarnate: Icons from the Malcove Collection

Icons first emerged as a distinct genre in the Byzantine Empire around the 6th century and remain central to Eastern Christian traditions today. The word “icon,” from the Greek eikōn (εἰκών), simply means “image.” But more than mere images, icons are active channels to the holy beings they represent, including Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and other powerful saints. Conceived as true likenesses of the sacred figures they depict, they are perceived as objects of saintly presence able to communicate with the sacred realm.