A movement within the Eastern Christian Church in the 8th and 9th centuries that opposed the veneration of icons, both religious paintings and statues. Emperor Leo III banned such veneration in 726 and despite popular antagonism the decision was confirmed by Constantine V in 753. In the seventh ecumenical council of 787 at Nicaea Empress Irene overturned the decrees but they were again enforced under the emperors Leo V, Michael II, and Theophilus. Veneration of icons was finally restored in 843 and the practice still survives in the Eastern Orthodox Church.