ABSTRACT
Whenever we discuss the Byzantine icon, our perception is immediately directed to icons painted on wood panels with tempera or encaustic. I have recently challenged this perception by demonstrating how the Byzantine iconophile image theory of the early ninth century promoted the metal relief icon as the ideal, of course without canceling the possibility for painted images.2 In this essay I will deepen my enquiry into the medium of icons by focusing on the affair of Leo of Chalcedon (1081-95) and the late eleventhcentury narrative of the miraculous icon of the Theotokos Romaia (named ‘the Roman’ since it allegedly resided in Rome for a time). What definition of the icon emerges in these texts and how does the medium affect the perception of the icon and its power?
