Around 1200 years ago, some of the last influential Ecumenical Councils serving Christianity, composed of the priests and church heads, or “fathers”, decided it would be a good idea to honor Christ, together with his saints and angels, in holy icons that would be set up in different settings, such as churches, set atop religious vessels and altars, vestments, panels, walls, in people’s private domiciles, and on waysides in city streets. It was believed that the people depicted in these icons would have honor transferred to them magically by placing these icons in a way that are visible to people, in order to, well, honor the people and entities in these icons.
This decree was an essential stepping stone towards allowing the way for works of art with Eastern Christianity as a theme to develop over time. Paintings depicting religious themes took off ever since Constantine had permitted the Triumph of the Cross, albeit the ban on religious imagery traditionally imposed by Judaism. By the 9th century the iconoclasts in support of this artistic reform briefly seized control of the Imperial government in Byzantium, and the Nicene Creed solidified this Christian art school for the years to come.