Icons

Icons (from the Greek word for “Image”) are religious works of art, most commonly a painting, usually associated with the Eastern Orthodox Church or Eastern Catholic Church.  Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and saints or angels, are the most common subjects of icons.  Most often they will be in a portrait style, but can also be narrative scenes.

While often painted on wood, icons can also be carved in stone, embroidered, done as a fresco or mosaic, or cast in metal.  For whatever reason, similar images from Western Christianity are generally not described as “icons”.

These particular “icons” were found in shops along the Via Dolorosa in the Muslim Quarter of the old city.