I guess that is my layman's attempt.
Icons are as old as the Church - See Jesus Fish.
But of course worship of God the Son didn't stop when He ascended back into heaven. It hadn't even reached its climax. Neither do the realities that pictures are intended to represent, require the presence of the pictures to appreciate to the full. A man might as well be preoccupied with pictures of his wife while in her very presence. She'd certainly view this as strange.