[arrasleds]

If the icons have been painted with modern acrylic paints, there should be no problem at all with stability of the pigments, or with any top coats of varnish. Icons painted using egg tempera are often painted with olifa varnish, which never completely dries, leading to a gradual darkening of the varnish, particularly if exposed to the emanations of oil lamps and candles. Any icon, hand-painted or mounted print, framed behind glass, or not, should be handled with care and reverence.

However, an icon (egg-tempera or acrylic) being regarded as unsuitable for veneration for a year is truly stretching it. From what I know about olifa varnish, a delay no more than a month after the application of the final coat is all that is required before the icon can be handled and venerated.

An iconographer worth his salt would not "release" an icon (painted using whatever medium) to his patron unless the surface of the icon was stable. This is particularly relevant in cases where the icon is blessed according to Russian/Slavic tradition, where the icon is placed on the church altar, prayed over, and sprinkled with holy water, before being returned to the "owner" of the icon. (Greek practice of sanctifying an icon involves placing the icon on the altar for 40 days, without a separate blessing service). It is also common, if not standard, practice for the iconographer, on completion of his work, to offer a short prayer to the saint depicted on the icon, and to venerate the icon.