Origin of Iconoclasm – Part I – Perspectives on Iconoclasm

In the 1960s, the BBC documentary series Civilisation featured Kenneth Clark famously standing in front of Notre Dame Cathedral asking, “What is civilisation? I don’t know... but I think I can recognize it when I see it.” In the 2018 remake of the series, Simon Schama takes a different approach, noting that while he may not know exactly what civilisation is, he knows when he sees it being destroyed, as imagery of the destruction of Palmyra is shown.

Throughout history, almost every civilisation has experienced the destruction of symbols, with image struggles stretching even further back than Akhenaten’s attempts to erase the god Amun. The reasons for this phenomenon have varied, but with a recent surge in activity from religious, political and military extremists, the destruction of images has become increasingly common on a global scale.

The question remains, what is it about images and symbols that affect us so deeply that we feel compelled to destroy them? What ideologies have driven the destruction of images throughout history, and have these motives changed over time?

0:00 Start
1:45 Daniel Reynolds – The Battle of Images: Byzantine Iconoclasm
19:28 Andreas Winkler –Akhenaten’s Iconoclasm in Perspective
36:45 Robin Dunbar – Ideology and Myths