Catholic and Orthodox Christians believe in the veneration of images and states and bow down to them in order to show them veneration, but did the Early Church Fathers believe in venerating images and bow down to them in order to show respect and honour, but did the Early Church Fathers believe and practice bowing to and venerating images/statues?

Protestants are against having statues and images and often quote Exodus 20:4, but Catholics and Orthodox Christians have beautiful statues and images in their church, but did the Early Church Fathers have statues and images in church and did they support the usage of images and statues in the church?

What was the ante-Nicene Fathers' view on **image veneration** and its use inside churches?

As is well-known, Judaism rejects all statues based on the Torah. The Presbyterian Church and Protestants reject making statutes but Roman Catholics made many statues of Jesus, Mary, Peter, and Paul. Catholics go as far as to pray to Mary and the saints. Isn’t this a violation of the Decalogue: “Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness”? ---------- This question is different from others as it assumes the Decalogue hasn't been lifted as others presuppose.

What is the original Our Lady of Grace statue? Is it associated with a particular Marian apparition? There are many coloration variations in these statues, so I show this monochrome garden statue as an example: All the "Our Lady of Grace" ones show her in this posture—open palms, downcast eyes, and stepping on the serpent.

We Catholics keel when praying in front of an icon representing God (e.g. a statue of Jesus, or a crucifix as in some confessionals), or during an Eucharistic Adoration. However, some people also kneel in front of a statue depicting the Virgin Mary (or that of some saints). I do understand that, theologically speaking, proper veneration of Mary and saints does not represent idolatry, but kneeling seems to be, in my opinion, something reserved for God alone. As [Philippians 2:10](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+2%3A10-11&version=NIV) says: >that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth So, beyond a justification based on mere cultural practices or habits, is there a dogmatic teaching of the Magisterium, or a theological justification (yet not dogmatic) stating that kneeling to venerate Mary is a "valid" practice? As far as I understand, dogmatic teachings only pertain to issues of faith and morals, meaning the justification for it might not be found there. There are two questions ([here](https://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/61165/how-do-catholics-answer-the-question-of-idol-worship-within-the-faith) and [here](https://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/27027/why-do-catholics-bow-for-icons-of-the-virgin-mary)) which are related to the issue of veneration of saints/Mary, and of bowing to Mary. But there are not specific in details regarding kneeling (which in my view is much stronger than bowing).

Are Roman Catholics **required** *at any time* to bow down or make obeisance to or kiss statues, images, icons, etc. (i.e., inanimate objects)? If so, is it considered a sin not to?

Historically how and why did this difference arise?