The Second Council of Nicaea, convened in Bithynia, affirmed the veneration of icons and ended the first phase of the Iconoclastic Controversy. The council distinguished between worship due to God and veneration due to images, establishing the theological basis for the use of icons in Christian worship. This decision shaped the visual and poetic culture of both Eastern and Western Christianity.

The council's affirmation of icons inspired a flourishing of Byzantine religious poetry and hymnody, including the canons of the great hymnographers. The theological distinction between worship and veneration influenced the devotional poetry of the West, from the medieval lyric to the metaphysical poets' treatment of sacred images.