History of iconography: the different schools

The major centers of iconography started in Byzantium and in the Byzantine Empire: the Balkan Peninsula (Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia), Crete, Cyprus, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, parts of Mesopotamia and Armenia and Arabia, and some towns along the Crimean and Caucasian coasts.

Later, religious iconography spread to Ukraine and Russia, first in Kiev, then Novgorod, then Moscow.

Around the same time, Serbia and Mount Athos became known for their important production of icons.

Romania and other countries of Eastern Europe also developed the art of icons. Using other mediums and following other rules than the Byzantine icons, those are less well-known.

Iconography influenced Italian art from the 8^th to the 13^th century, then, conversely, the art of Italian renaissance influenced the art of iconography, in the 16^th and 17^th centuries.

Today, iconography is alive and present throughout the world and schools are multiplying.