diff --git a/app.py b/app.py
index ed8ca9c..1ffa156 100644
--- a/app.py
+++ b/app.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ from datetime import timezone
 from functools import wraps
 from typing import Any
 from typing import Dict
+from typing import Tuple
 from urllib.parse import urlencode
 from urllib.parse import urlparse
 
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@ from config import BASE_URL
 from config import DB
 from config import DEBUG_MODE
 from config import DOMAIN
+from config import GRIDFS
 from config import HEADERS
 from config import ICON_URL
 from config import ID
@@ -69,9 +71,12 @@ from little_boxes.httpsig import HTTPSigAuth
 from little_boxes.httpsig import verify_request
 from little_boxes.webfinger import get_actor_url
 from little_boxes.webfinger import get_remote_follow_template
+from utils.img import ImageCache
 from utils.key import get_secret_key
 from utils.object_service import ObjectService
 
+IMAGE_CACHE = ImageCache(GRIDFS)
+
 OBJECT_SERVICE = ACTOR_SERVICE = ObjectService()
 
 back = activitypub.MicroblogPubBackend()
@@ -180,6 +185,30 @@ def clean_html(html):
     return bleach.clean(html, tags=ALLOWED_TAGS)
 
 
+_GRIDFS_CACHE: Dict[Tuple[str, int], str] = {}
+
+
+def _get_actor_icon_url(url, size):
+    k = (url, size)
+    cached = _GRIDFS_CACHE.get(k)
+    if cached:
+        return cached
+
+    doc = IMAGE_CACHE.fs.find_one({"url": url, "size": size})
+    if doc:
+        u = f"/img/{str(doc._id)}"
+        _GRIDFS_CACHE[k] = u
+        return u
+
+    IMAGE_CACHE.cache_actor_icon(url)
+    return _get_actor_icon_url(url, size)
+
+
+@app.template_filter()
+def get_actor_icon_url(url, size):
+    return _get_actor_icon_url(url, size)
+
+
 @app.template_filter()
 def permalink_id(val):
     return str(hash(val))
@@ -357,6 +386,21 @@ def handle_activitypub_error(error):
 
 # App routes
 
+
+@app.route("/img/<img_id>")
+def serve_img(img_id):
+    f = IMAGE_CACHE.fs.get(ObjectId(img_id))
+    resp = app.response_class(f, direct_passthrough=True, mimetype=f.content_type)
+    resp.headers.set("Content-Length", f.length)
+    resp.headers.set("ETag", f.md5)
+    resp.headers.set(
+        "Last-Modified", f.uploadDate.strftime("%a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S GMT")
+    )
+    resp.headers.set("Cache-Control", "public,max-age=31536000,immutable")
+    resp.headers.set("Content-Encoding", "gzip")
+    return resp
+
+
 #######
 # Login
 
diff --git a/config.py b/config.py
index 5f2da9c..906a4b9 100644
--- a/config.py
+++ b/config.py
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ mongo_client = MongoClient(
 
 DB_NAME = "{}_{}".format(USERNAME, DOMAIN.replace(".", "_"))
 DB = mongo_client[DB_NAME]
+GRIDFS = mongo_client[f"{DB_NAME}_gridfs"]
 
 
 def _drop_db():
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 3c3b9a3..21ce34c 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -19,3 +19,4 @@ passlib
 git+https://github.com/erikriver/opengraph.git
 git+https://github.com/tsileo/little-boxes.git
 pyyaml
+pillow
diff --git a/templates/utils.html b/templates/utils.html
index 070fc9f..e456ddb 100644
--- a/templates/utils.html
+++ b/templates/utils.html
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 <div class="note h-entry" id="activity-{{ obj.id | permalink_id }}">
 
 <div class="h-card p-author">
-<a class="u-url u-uid no-hover" href="{{ actor.url | get_url }}"><img class="u-photo" src="{% if not actor.icon %}/static/nopic.png{% else %}{{ actor.icon.url }}{% endif %}">
+<a class="u-url u-uid no-hover" href="{{ actor.url | get_url }}"><img class="u-photo" src="{% if not actor.icon %}/static/nopic.png{% else %}{{ actor.icon.url | get_actor_icon_url(50) }}{% endif %}">
 </a>
 <data class="p-name" value="{{ actor.name or actor.preferredUsername }}"></data>
 </div>
diff --git a/utils/img.py b/utils/img.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2b08e58
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/img.py
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+import base64
+from gzip import GzipFile
+from io import BytesIO
+from typing import Any
+
+import gridfs
+import requests
+from PIL import Image
+
+
+def load(url):
+    """Initializes a `PIL.Image` from the URL."""
+    # TODO(tsileo): user agent
+    resp = requests.get(url, stream=True)
+    resp.raise_for_status()
+    try:
+        image = Image.open(BytesIO(resp.raw.read()))
+    finally:
+        resp.close()
+    return image
+
+
+def to_data_uri(img):
+    out = BytesIO()
+    img.save(out, format=img.format)
+    out.seek(0)
+    data = base64.b64encode(out.read()).decode("utf-8")
+    return f"data:{img.get_format_mimetype()};base64,{data}"
+
+
+class ImageCache(object):
+    def __init__(self, gridfs_db: str) -> None:
+        self.fs = gridfs.GridFS(gridfs_db)
+
+    def cache_actor_icon(self, url: str):
+        if self.fs.find_one({"url": url}):
+            return
+        i = load(url)
+        for size in [50, 80]:
+            t1 = i.copy()
+            t1.thumbnail((size, size))
+            with BytesIO() as buf:
+                f1 = GzipFile(mode='wb', fileobj=buf)
+                t1.save(f1, format=i.format)
+                f1.close()
+                buf.seek(0)
+                self.fs.put(
+                    buf, url=url, size=size, content_type=i.get_format_mimetype()
+                )
+
+    def get_file(self, url: str, size: int) -> Any:
+        return self.fs.find_one({"url": url, "size": size})