ABSTRACT
How did the representation of holiness in icons as portraits that presented the countenances of the subjects affect the visual experience of seeing living holy persons? Marsengill argues that icons affected contemporary audiences, influencing their ways of seeing to such an extent that often the conception of the icon replaced the physical reality of the person. Descriptions that rely upon the terms associated with icons are indicative of a true shift in perception: how a holy person was expected to look, as most contemporaries had experienced through viewing icons, became how a person was visually perceived.
