Since the 6th century, the East experienced a special development of Christian art. A special role is played by the icon, which represents the holy figure as an image. The disputes in the image controversy of the 8th/9th century were strongly theoretical in nature, but for a long time brought a ban on Christian images. After the victory of the supporters of images, a system emerged in the 11th century, which concerned the images in the church interior but also on the templon (the iconostasis). While Byzantium and the Balkans were initially the leading regions, with the baptism of Russia an area emerged in which the more recent problems, such as the relationship with the West, have been fought out to the present day.