Persecution of Christians

[Koen G]

With Islam, I think your best bet is to study aniconism in the broader sense. This stems from a general prohibition of idolatry, and was extended in varying degrees to other forms of art.

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Islamic aniconism is usually understood as a prohibition against depicting living things. Plants are okay, and in some periods people-that-aren't-real-people are okay as well. We are probably all familiar with Islamic depictions of the constellations, for example - those aren't actual living things.

The Wiki has some interesting passages. Regions like Al-Andalus were more relaxed. You could generally draw people or animals, but you had to make it very clear that the images were not meant to be worshiped. People were numerous and small, all drawn at the same size. Drawings of humans were often crude on purpose, again to show that you have no intention of worship. Some subjects (scientific, hunting scenes..) are inherently "secular" and make it clear of themselves that no worship is intended (or even possible, unless you worship images of crudely drawn hunters).

So in short, images were okay in parts and periods of the Islamic world as long as it was clear they were not meant for worship.

Now, the kind of religious imagery I think is "hidden" in the VM is part of Catholicism's most intense period if idolatry. Depictions of Christ's side wound were often touched and stroked until the paint wore off and the vellum ripped. They often came with notes ensuring that the wound was true to size, as "real" as possible. You were supposed to use these images in your private worship, channel and imagine Christ's suffering through them.

I can imagine this is not the kind of practice that would be welcomed even in Al-Andalus.