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Hagia Sophia’s Mosaics & Iconoclasm

The Iconoclastic Movement (726–843 CE):

“Iconoclasm” literally means image-breaking. For over a century (spanning roughly 117 years across two waves), Roman emperors banned human and divine figures (icons) in churches. Inside Hagia Sophia, portraits and mosaics featuring Jesus, Mary, and saints were scraped off, plastered over, or replaced with simple, non-figurative symbols

The Post-Iconoclastic Revival (843 CE Onward)

When the ban on icons was lifted in 843 CE (celebrated as the “Triumph of Orthodoxy”), emperors spent centuries adding world-famous figurative masterpieces over the old gold background.