Good Post,dear friend.
You might like what Saint John Of Damascus wrote
“In former times, God without body or form could in no way be represented. But today since God has appeared in the flesh and lived among men, I can represent what is visible in God [to horaton tõu theõu]. I do not venerate any matter, but I venerate the creator of a matter, who became the matter for my sake, who assumed life in the flesh, and who through the matter accomplished my salvation”John of Damascus, Or. I
Great stuff. The iconoclasts were motivated by zeal to placate the Muslims who were swallowing up the Byzantine Empire.