Describing religious art or practice that avoids the use of images, statues, or pictorial representations of divine figures.
From Greek an- (without) + icon (image) + -ic (adjective suffix). The term was coined in early 20th-century art history to describe certain Islamic, Jewish, and early Christian traditions that forbid religious imagery.
Aniconicism shaped entire civilizations—Islamic geometric patterns are mind-bendingly complex specifically because artists couldn't depict God, so they channeled that creative energy into mathematical beauty instead.
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