Jesus and the Twelve Apostles depicted with "Floating" disk haloes in perspective (detail from The Tribute Money, illustrating Matthew 17:24-27, by Masaccio, 1424, Brancacci Chapel). Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) The Twelve Apostles (Greek apostolos, "someone sent out" e The Tribute Money is a Fresco by the Italian Renaissance painter Masaccio, located in the Brancacci Chapel of the Masaccio (born Tommaso Cassai or in some accounts Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Mone; December 21, 1401 &ndash autumn 1428 was the first great Brancacci Chapel is a Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence.

A halo (Greek: ἅλως; also known as a nimbus, aureole, glory, or gloriole) is a ring of light that surrounds a person in art. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly An aureola or aureole (diminutive of Latin aurea, "golden" is the radiance of luminous cloud which in Paintings of sacred personages They are often used in religious works to depict holy or sacred figures, and have at various periods also been used in images of rulers or heroes. In, among other religions, Hellenistic Greek, Roman, Buddhist and Christian sacred art, sacred persons may be depicted with a halo in the form of a golden, yellow or white circular glow around the head, or around the whole body, which is often called a mandorla. This article focuses on the cultural aspects of the Hellenistic age for the historical aspects see Hellenistic period. Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings An aureola or aureole (diminutive of Latin aurea, "golden" is the radiance of luminous cloud which in Paintings of sacred personages

Before the time of Christ

Standing Buddha with a halo, 1st-2nd century AD (or earlier), Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara. The Standing Buddha of the Tokyo National Museum is a remarkable example of Greco-Buddhist statuary Greco-Buddhist art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural Syncretism between the Classical Greek culture and Buddhism Gandhāra ( Sanskrit: गन्धार Urdu: گندھارا Gandḥārā; also known as Waihind in Persian is the name of an ancient

Round "solar discs" above the head are seen in depictions of many deities of Ancient Egypt, including Ra and Hathor, and symbols resembling later halos, such as the sun cross, are found in many ancient religions, especially in connection with sun worship. Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now Ra (pronounced Rah and sometimes as Rê, is an Ancient Egyptian sun god. In Egyptian mythology, Hathor (Pronounced Hah-Thor ( Egyptian for house of Horus) was originally a personification of the Milky Way The sun cross, a Cross inside a Circle, is one of the oldest and most widespread of symbols "Sun god" redirects here For the Ramsey Lewis album see Sun Goddess (album.

Homer describes a more-than-natural light around the heads of heroes in battle,^[1] and in Aristophanes' Birds the founder of Cloud-Cuckoo-Land is extravagantly said to outshine stars and sun. Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the "Cult Hero" redirects here For the Cure sideproject called Cult Hero see I'm a Cult Hero Hero cults were one of the most Aristophanes (Ἀριστοφάνης ˌærɪˈstɒfəniːz in English ca The Birds ( Greek: Ornithes) is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes in 414 BC ^[2] Depictions of Perseus in the act of slaying Medusa, with lines radiating from his head, appear on a white-ground toiletry box in the Louvre and on a slightly later red-figured vase in the style of Polygnotos, ca. Perseus, Perseos, or Perseas ( Greek: Περσεύς, Περσέως, Περσέας) the Legendary founder Red-figure vase painting is one of the most important styles of figural Greek vase painting. Polygnotos (active approx 450 - 420 BCE was in Greek Vase painter in Athens 450-30 BC, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. ^[3] On painted wares from south Italy radiant lines or simple haloes appear on a range of mythic figures: Lyssa, a personification of madness; a sphinx, a sea demon, Thetis, the sea-nymph who was mother to Achilles,^[4] The Colossus of Rhodes, was a statue of the sun-god Helios and had his usual radiate crown (copied by the Statue of Liberty). A Sphinx is a Zoomorphic mythological figure which is depicted as a recumbent lion with a human head This article is about the Greek sea nymph Thetis should not be confused with Themis, the embodiment of the laws of nature but see the sea-goddess Tethys. In Greek mythology the Sun was personified as Helios (ˈhiliˌɑs ( Ἥλιος Latinized as Helius) Liberty Enlightening the World (La liberté éclairant le monde commonly known as the Statue of Liberty (Statue de la Liberté was presented Hellenistic rulers are often shown wearing radiate crowns that seem clearly to imitate this effect. [7]

A more prosaic influence that has been cited by some historians is the Greek practice of placing circular metal discs above the head of statues to protect them from birds and their droppings, thus anticipating the "perspectival" halo by over a millennium.

In Asian art

The halo and the aureole have been widely used in Indian art, particularly in Buddhist iconography^[5] where it has appeared since at least the 1st century AD; the Kushan Bimaran casket in the British Museum is variously dated between 30BC and 60AD. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices The Bimaran casket is a small gold Reliquary for Buddhist relics that was found inside the Stupa no The British Museum is a Museum of human history and culture in London. The rulers of the Kushan Empire were perhaps the earliest to give themselves halos on their coins, and the nimbus in art may have originated in Central Asia and spread both east and west. The Kushan Empire (c 1st &ndash 3rd centuries) was a Bactrian state that at its cultural zenith Circa 105 &ndash 250 ^[6] In Chinese and Japanese Buddhist art the halo has also been used since the earliest periods in depicting the image of Amida Buddha and others. Buddhist art originated on the Indian subcontinent following the historical life of Gautama Buddha, 6th to 5th century BCE and thereafter evolved by contact with Amitābha ( Sanskrit: अमिताभ Amitābha (wordstem pronunciation; Chinese: 阿彌陀佛 Ēmítuó Fó; Tibetan: འོད་དཔག་མེད་ Tibetan Buddhism uses halos and aureoles of many types, drawing from both Indian and Chinese traditions, extensively in statues and Thangka paintings of Buddhist saints such as Milarepa and Padmasambhava and deities. Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including This article deals with the Tibetan currency For the religious paintings see Thangka The tangka was a currency of Tibet until 1941 Jetsun Milarepa ( (c 1052-c 1135 CE) is generally considered one of Tibet 's most famous Yogis and poets a student of Marpa Lotsawa, and Padmasambhava () The Lotus Born, is said to have transmitted Tantric Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet in the 8th century. Different coloured halos have specific meanings: orange for monks, green for the Buddha and other more elevated beings,^[7] and commonly figures have both a halo for the head, and another circular one for the body, the two often intersecting somewhere around the head or neck. Thin lines of gold often radiate outwards or inwards from the rim of the halo, and sometimes a whole halo is made up of these. ^[8] Elaborate halos and especially aureoles also appear in Hindu sculpture, where they tend to develop into architectural frames in which the original idea can be hard to recognise. A Hindu ( Devanagari: हिन्दू is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, a set of religious, Philosophical Theravada Buddhism and Jainism did not use the halo for many centuries, but later adopted it, though less thoroughly than other religious groups. History Origin of the school The Theravāda school is ultimately derived from the Vibhajjavāda (or 'doctrine of analysis' grouping which was a continuation Jainism, traditionally known as Jain Dharma / Shraman Dharma (जैन धर्म is an ancient religion of India.

Muhammad leads Abraham, Moses, Jesus and others in prayer. IMPORTANT PLEASE READ ##### For all questions relating to the addition of (pbuh peace be upon him or other honorifics Abraham ( Ashkenazi   Avrohom or Avruhom; ابراهيم, {{Unicode|Ibrāhīm}}; Ge'ez: Moses ( Latin: Moyses,; Greek: grc Mωυσής in both the Septuagint and the New Testament; Arabic: ar موسىٰ Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) Persian miniature

In Asian art, the nimbus is often imagined as consisting not just of light, but of flames. This type seems to first appear in Chinese bronzes of which the earliest surviving examples date from before 450. ^[9]The depiction of the flames may be very formalized, as in the regular little flames on the ring aureole surrounding many Chola bronzes and other classic Hindu sculptures of divinities, or very prominent, as with the more realistic flames, and sometimes smoke, shown rising to a peak behind many Tibetan Buddhist depictions of the "wrathful aspect" of divinities, and also in Persian miniatures of the classic period. This type is also very rarely found, and on a smaller scale, in medieval Christian art. ^[10] Sometimes a thin line of flames rise up from the edges of a circular halo in Buddhist examples,^[11]. In Tibetan paintings the flames are often shown as blown by a wind, usually from left to right. ^[12]

Later, plainer halos appear in portraits of Mughal and subsequently Rajput rulers,^[13] and are also found in Islamic art from various places and periods, especially in Persian miniatures and Moghul and Ottoman art influenced by them. Rajput constitute one of the major Hindu Kshatriya groups from India Islamic art encompasses the arts produced from the 7th century onwards by people (not necessarily Muslim) who lived within the territory that was inhabited by culturally A Persian miniature is a small painting whether a book illustration or a separate work of art intended to be kept in an album of such works The Mughal Empire ( Persian and self-designation گورکانی; مغلیہ سلطنت) was an Islamic imperial power which ruled most The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish The Ottomans avoided using them for the sultans, despite their title as Caliph, and they are only seen on Chinese emperors if they are posing as Buddhist religious figures, as some felt entitled to do. Sultan (سلطان is an Islamic title with several historical meanings The Caliph is the Head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah ^[14] The art of Sikhism also uses them, as did some Sikh rulers. Sikhism ( IPA: or; ਸਿੱਖੀ sikkhī, IPA:) founded on the teachings of Nanak and nine successive gurus in fifteenth century

Gallery - Egypt and Asia

Ra with solar disc, before 1235 BC	The Kushan Kanishka casket of 127, with Brahma, the Buddha and Indra. Ra (pronounced Rah and sometimes as Rê, is an Ancient Egyptian sun god. The Kanishka casket or "Kanishka reliquary" is a Buddhist reliquary made in gilted copper and dated to the first year of the reign of the Kushan emperor Brahma is the Hindu god ( deva) of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. Siddhārtha Gautama ( Sanskrit; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual Teacher from Ancient India and the founder Indra ( Sanskrit: इन्द्र or इंद्र Indra, Malay: Indera, Thai: พระอินทร์ Phra-Intra	Northern Wei Buddhist bronze, 524, with two-ringed halo within a flaming mandorla	Chola Nataraja with an aureole of flames, 11th century[15]
Jain figure, 11th century]]	The Mughal emperor Jahangir often had himself depicted with a halo of unprecedented size. The Northern Wei Dynasty (北魏 Pinyin: běi wèi 386 - 534) also known as the Tuoba Wei (拓拔魏 Later Wei (後魏 or An aureola or aureole (diminutive of Latin aurea, "golden" is the radiance of luminous cloud which in Paintings of sacred personages Nataraja /nɐtɐrɑdʒɐ/ ( The Lord (or King of Dance) Tamil கூத்தன் is the dancing posture of the Hindu god Shiva, who performs his Jainism, traditionally known as Jain Dharma / Shraman Dharma (जैन धर्म is an ancient religion of India. The Mughal Empire was the dominant power in the Indian subcontinent between the mid-16th century and the end of the 17th century Nuruddin Salim Jahangir (full title Al-Sultan al-'Azam wal Khaqan al-Mukarram Khushru-i-Giti Panah Abu'l-Fath Nur ud-din Muhammad Jahangir Padshah Ghazi ''( September 20 ca. 1620	A multi-limbed Tibetan deity surrounded by an aureole of fire and smoke, 19th century.	A range of Tibetan aureoles and halos in a thangka.

In Roman art

Apollo with a radiant halo in a Roman floor mosaic (late 2nd century, El Djem, Tunisia)

The halo represents an aura or glow of sanctity which was conventionally drawn encircling the head. Art History Mosaics of the 4th century BC are found in the Macedonian palace-city of Aegae, and they enriched the floors of Hellenistic El Djem (Latin Thysdrus) is a town in Mahdia Governorate, Tunisia, population 18302 (2004 census It first appeared in the culture of Hellenistic Greece and Rome, possibly related to the Zoroastrian hvarena - "glory" or "divine lustre" - which marked the Persian kings, and may have been imported with Mithraism. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Zoroastrianism (ˌzɔroʊˈæstriəˌnɪzəm is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings The Mithraic Mysteries or Mysteries of Mithras (also Mithraism) was a Roman mystery religion which became popular among the military in the late Though Roman paintings have largely disappeared, save some fresco decorations, the haloed figure remains fresh in Roman mosaics. Fresco (plural either frescos or frescoes) is any of several related Painting types done on Plaster on walls or In a second century AD Roman floor mosaic preserved at Bardo, Tunisia,^[16] a haloed Poseidon appears in his chariot drawn by hippocamps. This is an article on a Buddhist concept For other meanings of the word Bardo, see Bardo (disambiguation The Tibetan word Bardo In Greek mythology, Poseidon ( Greek:; Latin: Neptūnus) was the god of the Sea and as "Earth-Shaker" The hippocamp or hippocampus (plural hippocampi Greek: ἵπποκαμπος from ἵππος "horse" and κάμπος, "monster" Significantly, the triton and nereid who accompany the sea-god are not haloed. Triton (Τρίτων gen Τρίτωνος is a mythological Greek god, the messenger of the deep

In a late second century AD floor mosaic from Thysdrus, (El Djem, (illustration) Apollo Helios is identified by his effulgent halo. El Djem (Latin Thysdrus) is a town in Mahdia Governorate, Tunisia, population 18302 (2004 census In Greek mythology the Sun was personified as Helios (ˈhiliˌɑs ( Ἥλιος Latinized as Helius) Another haloed Apollo in mosaic, from Hadrumentum, is in the museum at Sousse. ^[17] The conventions of this representation, head tilted, lips slightly parted, large-eyed, curling hair cut in locks grazing the neck, were developed in the third century BC to depict Alexander the Great (Bieber 1964; Yalouris 1980). Haircut redirects here For the financial term see Haircut (finance. Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' Some time after this mosaic was executed, the Emperor began to be depicted with a halo,^[18] which was not abandoned when they became Christian; initially Christ only had one when shown on a throne as Christ in Majesty^[19]. Christ in Majesty, or Christ in Glory, in Latin Majestas Domini, is the Western Christian image of Christ seated on a throne as ruler of the world always

In Christian art

Nativity and Transfiguration of Christ, with cross haloes; the apostles, angels and prophets have plain ones. For depictions in painting and sculpture see Nativity of Jesus in art. The Transfiguration of Jesus is an event reported by the Synoptic Gospels in which Jesus is transfigured upon a mountain (,) The Twelve Apostles (Greek apostolos, "someone sent out" e An angel is a Spiritual Supernatural being found in many Religions Although the nature of angels and the tasks given to them vary from tradition to tradition In Religion, a prophet (or prophetess) is a person who has encountered the Supernatural or the divine and serves as an intermediary (1025-50, Cologne).

The halo was incorporated into Christian art sometime in the fourth century with the earliest iconic images of Christ, initially the only figure shown with one (together with his symbol, the Lamb of God). Christian art is Art produced in an attempt to illustrate supplement and portray in tangible form the principles of Christianity. An icon (from Greek εἰκών eikōn, "image" is a religious work of art most commonly a painting from Eastern Christianity. Lamb of God ( Latin: Agnus Dei) is one of the titles given to Jesus in the New Testament and consequently in the Christian Initially the halo was regarded by many as a representation of the Logos of Christ, his divine nature, and therefore in very early (before 500) depictions of Christ before his Baptism by John he tends not to be shown with a halo, it being a matter of debate whether his Logos was innate from birth (the Orthodox view), or acquired at Baptism (the Nestorian view). grc-Latn Logos (ˈloʊːgɒs ( Greek, logos) is an important term in Philosophy, Analytical psychology, Rhetoric and Religion Saint John the Baptist ( heb. Jochanan ben Sacharja, arab. يحيى Yaḥyā or يوحنا Yūḥanna, aram. Nestorius Nestorius (c  386 &ndashc  451) was a pupil of Theodore of Mopsuestia in Antioch in Syria (modern At this period he is also shown as a child or youth, though this may be a hieratic rather than age-related representation ^[20]

A cross within, or extending beyond, a halo is used to represent the persons of the Holy Trinity, especially Jesus, and especially in medieval art. SSC RF "Troitsk Institute of Innovative and Termonuclear Research" or TRINITY for shprt Троицкий Институт инновационных и термоядерных Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) In Byzantine and Orthodox images, inside each of the bars of the cross in Christ's halo is one of the Greek letters ώ Ό Ν making up I AM—literally, "the Existing One" — indicating the divinity of Jesus. See also Yahweh Tetragrammaton (from the Greek, meaning ' of four letters' (tetra "four" + gramma (gen Christology (from Christ and Greek grc -λογία -logia) is a field of study within Christian theology which is concerned with At least in later Orthodox images, each bar of this cross is composed of three lines, symbolising the dogmas of the Trinity, the oneness of God and the two natures of Christ. Dogma (the plural is either dogmata or dogmas, Greek, plural) is the established Belief or For the Celtic Frost album see Monotheist (album In Theology, monotheism (from Greek grc [[wiktμόνος μόνος]] Christology (from Christ and Greek grc -λογία -logia) is a field of study within Christian theology which is concerned with In mosaics in Santa Maria Maggiore (432-40) the juvenile Christ has a four-armed cross either on top of his head in the radius of the nimbus, or placed above the radius, but this is unusual. Art History Mosaics of the 4th century BC are found in the Macedonian palace-city of Aegae, and they enriched the floors of Hellenistic The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (its Italian name known in English also as St Mary Major, is an ancient Catholic Basilica of Rome In the same mosaics the accompanying angels have haloes (as, in a continuation of the Imperial tradition, does King Herod), but not Mary and Joseph. Herod (הוֹרְדוֹס Horodos, Greek: Herōdes) also known as Herod I or Herod the Great (73 BC – 4 BC in Jericho Joseph "of the House of David " ( Hebrew יוֹסֵף also known as Saint Joseph, Joseph the Betrothed, Joseph of Nazareth Occasionally other figures have crossed haloes, such as the seven doves representing the Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit in the 11th century Codex Vyssegradensis Tree of Jesse (where Jesse and Isaiah also have plain haloes, as do the Ancestors of Christ in other miniatures). The Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are gifts which Anglicans, Roman Catholics, and Lutherans believe the Holy Spirit gives to people to The Codex Vyssegradensis, also known as the Vyšehrad Codex or the Coronation Gospels of Vratislav II, is a late 11th century Illuminated manuscript The Tree of Jesse refers to a passage in the Biblical Book of Isaiah which describes metaphorically the descent of the Messiah and is accepted by Christians as pertaining Jesse or Yishai ( meaning "God's gift" is the father of the Biblical David mentioned in the Books of Samuel of the Hebrew Bible. Isaiah (; Greek:, Ēsaiās; Arabic: اشعیاء, Ash-ee-yaa; "Salvation of/is YHWH " is The genealogy of Jesus through Joseph is given by two passages from the Gospels, Matthew and Luke. ^[21]

Later, triangular halos are sometimes given to God the Father to represent the Trinity. In many religions the supreme Deity ( God) is given the title and attributions of Father. SSC RF "Troitsk Institute of Innovative and Termonuclear Research" or TRINITY for shprt Троицкий Институт инновационных и термоядерных ^[22] When he is represented by a hand emerging from a cloud, this may be given a halo.

Plain round halos are typically used to signify saints, the Virgin Mary, Old Testament prophets, angels, symbols of the Four Evangelists, and some other figures. A saint (from the Latin sanctus) is a human being to whom has been attributed (and who has generally demonstrated a high level of Holiness and Sanctity In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. The Four Evangelists refers to the authors of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament that bear the following ancient titles Gospel according Byzantine emperors and empresses were often shown with them in compositions including saints or Christ, however the haloes were outlined only. This is a list of the Emperors of the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly known as the Byzantine Empire by modern historians This was copied by Ottonian and later Russian rulers. Old Testament figures become less likely to have halos in the West as the Middle Ages go on. ^[23]

Pope Paschal I is depicted during his lifetime, so with a square halo, c. Pope 820, Santa Prassede, Rome. Santa Prassede is a Basilica in Rome, located near the major basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

Beatified figures, not yet canonised as saints, are sometimes shown in medieval Italian art with linear rays radiating out from the head, but no circular edge of the nimbus defined; later this became a less obtrusive form of halo that could be used for all figures. Beatification (from Latin beatus, blessed via Greek μακάριος makarios) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic church ^[24] Mary has, especially from the Baroque period onwards, a special form of halo in a circle of stars, derived from her identification as the Woman of the Apocalypse. Baroque art redirects here Please disambiguate such links to Baroque painting, Baroque sculpture, etc A Circle of stars often represents unity, Solidarity and Harmony in Flags seals ref> and Signs and is also seen

Square haloes were sometimes used for the living in the first millennium in Italy;^[25] Pope Gregory the Great had himself depicted with one, according to the ninth-century writer of his vita, John, deacon of Rome. Hagiography ( is the study of Saints. A hagiography, from Greek (hağios (ἅγιος "holy" or "saint" and graphē (γραφή Johannes Hymonides, known as John deacon of Rome (d before 882 was towards the middle of the 9th century a Monk of Monte Cassino near Rome ^[26] Personifications of the Virtues are sometimes given hexagonal halos. Virtue ( Latin virtus; Greek) is moral Excellence. Personal virtues are characteristics valued as promoting individual Regular hexagon The internal Angles of a regular hexagon (one where all sides and all angles are equal are all 120 ° and the hexagon has 720 degrees ^[27]

The whole-body image of radiance is sometimes called the 'aureole' or glory; it is shown radiating from all round the body, most often of Christ or Mary, occasionally of saints (especially those reported to have been seen surrounded by one). An aureola or aureole (diminutive of Latin aurea, "golden" is the radiance of luminous cloud which in Paintings of sacred personages Such an aueola is often a mandorla ("almond-shaped" vesica piscis), especially around Christ in Majesty, who may well have a halo as well. An aureola or aureole (diminutive of Latin aurea, "golden" is the radiance of luminous cloud which in Paintings of sacred personages The vesica piscis is a Shape which is the intersection of two Circles with the same radius intersecting in such a way that the center of each circle lies on the circumference Christ in Majesty, or Christ in Glory, in Latin Majestas Domini, is the Western Christian image of Christ seated on a throne as ruler of the world always In depictions of the Transfiguration a more complicated shape is often seen, especially in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, as in the famous 15th century icon in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world The State Tretyakov Gallery (Государственная Третьяковская Галерея ГТГ in Moscow, Russia, is the foremost depository Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of ^[28]

Where gold is used as a background in miniatures, mosaics and panel paintings, the halo is often formed by inscribing lines in the gold leaf, and may be decorated in patterns (diapering) within the outer radius, and thus becomes much less prominent. The word miniature, derived from the Latin minium, Red lead, is a picture in an ancient or Medieval Illuminated manuscript Art History Mosaics of the 4th century BC are found in the Macedonian palace-city of Aegae, and they enriched the floors of Hellenistic Metal leaf is a thin foil used for decoration It is also called composition leaf or schlagmetal. In Heraldry, Diapering (from an old term for Damask) is a technique in which those who draw achievements of arms attempt to decorate large areas of flat The gold leaf inside the halo may also be burnished in a circular manner, so as to produce the effect of light radiating out from the subject's head. In the early centuries of its use, the Christian halo may be in most colours (though black is reserved for Judas, Satan and other evil figures) or multicoloured; later gold becomes standard, and if the entire background is not gold leaf, the halo itself usually will be. Satan, ( Standard Hebrew Satan'el, English accuser) is a term that originates from the Abrahamic faiths, being traditionally ^[29]

Decline of the halo

Fra Angelico. Fra Angelico (c 1395 &ndash February 18 1455) born Guido di Pietro, was an Early Italian Renaissance painter referred to in Vasari Coronation of the Virgin. The Coronation of the Virgin or Coronation of Mary is a subject in Christian art, especially popular in Italy in the 13th to 15th centuries but continuing in popularity Note the haloes of the kneeling figures at the front, seen from behind.

With increasing realism in painting, the halo came to be a problem for artists. Realism is a visual art style that depicts the actuality of what the eyes can see So long as they continued to use the old compositional formulae which had been worked out to accommodate haloes, the problems were manageable, but as Western artists sought more flexibility in composition, this ceased to be the case. In free-standing medieval sculpture, the halo was already shown as a flat disk above or behind the head. When perspective came to be considered essential, painters also changed the halo from an aura surrounding the head, always depicted as though seen full-on, to a flat golden disk or ring that appeared in perspective, floating above the heads of the saints, or vertically behind, sometimes transparent. Perspective (from Latin perspicere to see through in the graphic arts such as drawing is an approximate representation on a flat surface (such as paper of an image as it is perceived This can be seen first in Giotto, who still gives Christ the cruciform halo which began to be phased out by his successors.

In in the early 15th century Jan van Eyck and Robert Campin largely abandoned their use, although some other Early Netherlandish artists continued to use them. Jan van Eyck or Johannes de Eyck (jɑn vɑn ɛik (before c 1395 &ndash before July 9, 1441) was an Early Netherlandish painter active Robert Campin (c 1375 &ndash 26 April 1444) now usually identified with the artist known as the Master of Flémalle, is usually considered the first Early Netherlandish painting is the work of those painters who were active in the Low Countries during the 15th and early 16th century Northern renaissance ^[30] In Italy at around the same time, Pisanello used them if they did not clash with one of the enormous hats he liked to paint. Pisanello (c 1395 &ndash probably 1455 known professionally as Antonio di Puccio Pisano or Antonio di Puccio da Cereto, also erroneously called Vittore Generally they lasted longer in Italy, although often reduced to a thin gold band depicting the outer edge of the nimbus, usual for example in Giovanni Bellini. Giovanni Bellini (c 1430 – 1516 was an Italian Renaissance painter probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters Christ began to be shown with a plain halo.

Leonardo da Vinci (attributed), Benois Madonna. Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci ( April 15 1452 – May 2 1519 was an Italian Polymath, having been a scientist Mathematician, Engineer Madonna and Child with Flowers, otherwise known as the Benois Madonna, could be one of two Madonnas started by Leonardo da Vinci Floating semi-transparent haloes in perspective.

Fra Angelico, himself a monk, was a conservative as far as haloes are concerned, and some of his paintings demonstrate the problems well, as in several of his more crowded compositions, where they are shown as solid gold disks on the same plane as the picture surface, it becomes difficult to prevent them obstructing other figures. Fra Angelico (c 1395 &ndash February 18 1455) born Guido di Pietro, was an Early Italian Renaissance painter referred to in Vasari MONK is a Monte Carlo software package for simulating nuclear processes particularly for the purpose of determining the neutron multiplication factor or k-effective

In the High Renaissance, even most Italian painters dispensed with haloes altogether, but in the Mannerist and Baroque periods, figures were placed where natural light sources would highlight their heads, or instead more discreet quasi-naturalistic flickering or glowing light was shown around the head of Christ and other figures (perhaps pioneered by Titian in his late period). The High Renaissance, in the History of art, denotes the culmination of the art of the Italian Renaissance between 1450 and 1527 Rembrandt's etchings, for example, show a variety of solutions of all of these types, as well as a majority with no halo effect at all. Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (July 15 1606 &ndash October 4 1669 was a Dutch painter and etcher. For other uses of etch or etching, see Etching (disambiguation, for the history of the method see Old master prints.

The halo was rarely used for figures from classical mythology in the Renaissance, although they are sometimes seen, especially in the classical radiant form, in Mannerist and Baroque art. Mannerism is a period of European art which emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. Baroque art redirects here Please disambiguate such links to Baroque painting, Baroque sculpture, etc

By the 19th century haloes have become unusual in Western mainstream art, although retained in iconic and popular images, and sometimes as a medievalising effect. When John Everett Millais gives his otherwise realist Saint Stephen of 1895 a ring halo, it seems rather surprising. Sir John Everett Millais 1st Baronet, PRA ( June 8, 1829 &ndash August 13, 1896) was an English painter ^[31] In popular graphic culture, a simple ring has become the predominant representation of a halo since at least the late 19th century, as seen for example in the logo for the Simon Templar ("The Saint") series of novels and other adaptations. Overview Simon Templar is known as the Saint because of his initials (ST and also because of his heroic exploits that fly in the face of an otherwise nefarious reputation

Folk beliefs

In popular piety, this practice has led to the literal belief that saints have visible halos around their heads, rather than it be understood as a metaphorical representation. Some faithful believe the halo to be equivalent to the aura of some Eastern religions, and as with the latter, believe that halos are visible to those with perception (see New Age). In Parapsychology and many forms of spiritual practice an aura is a field of subtle luminous radiation surrounding a person or object like the Halo or Eastern religion is a group of Religions originating in India, China, Japan and Southeast Asia. In Psychology and the Cognitive sciences perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory Information. New Age ( New Age Movement and New Age Spirituality) is a Social Collective Phenomenon and a Spiritual Nature Of the many stories about saints, some reports claimed that a saint was literally glowing.

Spiritual Significance in Christianity

Eastern Orthodox icon of Christ "Not Made by Hand" with the Greek letters ώ Ό Ν. An icon (from Greek εἰκών eikōn, "image" is a religious work of art most commonly a painting from Eastern Christianity. Acheiropoieta (Greek) literally "not-handmade" or Icons Not Made by Hand (and variants are a particular kind of Icon, ones that are alleged to have Simon Ushakov, 17th century. Simon (Pimen Fyodorovich Ushakov (Russian Симон (Пимен Федорович Ушаков 1626–1686 was a leading Russian Graphic artist of the late 17th-century

The early Church Fathers expended much rhetorical energy on conceptions of God as a source of light; among other things this was because "in the controversies in the fourth century over the consubstantiality of the Father and the Son, the relation of the ray to the source was the most cogent example of emanation and of distinct forms with a common substance" - key concepts in the theological thought of the time. The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, or Fathers of the Church are the early and influential theologians and writers in the Christian Church ^[32]

In less intellectual interpretations of the haloes of saints, some see the halo as symbolizing the saint's consciousness as 'radiating' beyond the physical body, and that it serves as a pictorial reminder to the saint's devotees of the saint's transcendence of the physical body.

A more Catholic interpretation, less dualistic in its assumptions, is that the halo represents the light of divine grace suffusing the soul, which is perfectly united and in harmony with the physical body. Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete".

In the theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church, an icon is a "window into heaven" through which Christ and the Saints in heaven can be seen and communicated with. The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world An icon (from Greek εἰκών eikōn, "image" is a religious work of art most commonly a painting from Eastern Christianity. The gold background of the icon indicates that what is depicted is in heaven. The halo is a symbol of the Uncreated Light (Greek: Ἄκτιστον Φῶς) or grace of God shinging forth through the icon. In Eastern Orthodox theology, the Tabor Light (also Light of Tabor, Tabor's Light, Taboric Light; Greek: Φῶς του Θαβώρ Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in his Celestial Hierarcies speaks of the angels and saints being illuminated by the grace of God, and in turn illumining others. Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, also known as Pseudo-Denys, is the anonymous theologian and philosopher of the late 5th to early 6th century whose Corpus Areopagiticum De Coelesti Hierarchia ( Celestial Hierarchy) is a Pseudo-Dionysian work on Angelology (dated to ca

Gallery - Christian art

The Emperor Justinian (and the Empress Theodora) are haloed in mosaics at the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, 548. Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus ( Greek: Φλάβιος Πέτρος Σαββάτιος Ιουστινιανός; known in English as Justinian I or The Church or Basilica of San Vitale — styled an " ecclesiastical basilica " in the Roman Catholic Church though it is not of architectural basilica See here for earlier and here for later examples. The missorium of Theodosius I is a large ceremonial silver dish preserved in the Real Academia de Historia, in Madrid, Spain. Byzantine dress changed considerably over the thousand years of the Empire but was essentially conservative	Tetraevangelia of Tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria, c. The Tetraevangelia of Ivan Alexander or the Four Gospels of Ivan Alexander (Четвероевангелие на (цар Иван Александър transliterated 1350; the whole royal family have haloes.	Giotto Cappella degli Scrovegni, 1305, with flat perspectival haloes; the view from behind causes difficulties, and John's halo has to be reduced in size. The Scrovegni Chapel, or Cappella degli Scrovegni, also known as the Arena Chapel is a church in Padua, Veneto Saint John the Evangelist (d ca 110 יוחנן " The LORD is merciful" Standard Hebrew Yoḥanan, Tiberian Hebrew	The risen Christ appearing to the Eleven (Luke 24,36-49) from Duccio's Maesta. Duccio di Buoninsegna (c 1255-1260 &ndash c 1318-1319 was one of the most influential Italian artists of his time Maestà, the Italian word for "majesty" designates an iconic formula of the enthroned Madonna with the child Jesus, whether or not accompanied Christ has a plain halo; the Apostles only have them where they will not seriously interfere with the composition.
Netherlandish, before 1430. A religious scene where objects in a realistic domestic setting contain symbolism. A wicker firescreen serves as a halo.	Mary above has a large aureole, St Anthony has a disk halo in perspective, but this would spoil the appearance of St George's hat. An aureola or aureole (diminutive of Latin aurea, "golden" is the radiance of luminous cloud which in Paintings of sacred personages Pisanello, 1430s	Fra Angelico 1450, Mary's halo is in perspective, Joseph's is not. Pisanello (c 1395 &ndash probably 1455 known professionally as Antonio di Puccio Pisano or Antonio di Puccio da Cereto, also erroneously called Vittore Fra Angelico (c 1395 &ndash February 18 1455) born Guido di Pietro, was an Early Italian Renaissance painter referred to in Vasari Jesus still has a cruciform halo.	The Lutheran Hans Schäufelein shows only Christ with a halo in this Last Supper (painted in 1515).
In Simon Ushakov's icon of the The Last Supper (1685) eleven of the twelve apostles have halos: only Judas Iscariot does not. Simon (Pimen Fyodorovich Ushakov (Russian Симон (Пимен Федорович Ушаков 1626–1686 was a leading Russian Graphic artist of the late 17th-century An icon (from Greek εἰκών eikōn, "image" is a religious work of art most commonly a painting from Eastern Christianity. In the Christian Gospels the Last Supper (also called the Lord's Supper or Mystical Supper) was the last meal Jesus shared with his The Twelve Apostles (Greek apostolos, "someone sent out" e Judas Iscariot, יהודה איש־קריות Yəhûḏāh ʾΚ-qəriyyôṯ was according to the New Testament, one of the twelve original apostles	Salvator Mundi, 1570, by Titian. Salvator Mundi, or Saviour of the World, is a subject in Iconography depicting Christ with his right hand raised in Blessing and his Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c 1485 &ndash August 27 1576 better known as Titian, was the leading painter of the 16th-century Venetian From the late Renaissance a more "naturalistic" form of halo was often preferred.	William Blake uses the hats of the two girls to suggest haloes in the frontispiece to Mary Wollstonecraft's "Original Stories from Real Life", 1791. William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827 was an English poet, painter, and Printmaker. Mary Wollstonecraft (ˈwʊlstənkrɑːft 27 April 1759 – 10 September Original Stories from Real Life with Conversations Calculated to Regulate	Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld was a member of the Nazarene movement that looked back to medieval art. Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld ( March 26 1794 - May 24 1872) was a German painter. The name Nazarene was adopted by a group of early 19th century German Romantic painters who aimed to revive honesty and spirituality in Christian art However, in The Three Marys at the Tomb, 1835, only the angel has a halo.

Origins and usage of the different terms

Russian icon of the Transfiguration. An icon (from Greek εἰκών eikōn, "image" is a religious work of art most commonly a painting from Eastern Christianity. Christ is shown surrounded by a light blue aureole with white flashes of lightning (15th century, attributed to Theophanes the Greek, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow). Theophanes the Greek (sometimes "Feofan Grek" from the Феофан Грек Greek: Θεοφάνης c The State Tretyakov Gallery (Государственная Третьяковская Галерея ГТГ in Moscow, Russia, is the foremost depository Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of

The distinction between the alternative terms in English is rather unclear. The oldest term in English is "glory", the only one available in the Middle Ages, but now largely obsolete. It came from the French "gloire" which has much the same range of meanings as "glory". "Gloriole" does not appear in this sense until 1844, being a modern invention, as a diminutive, in French also. "Halo" is first found in English in this sense in 1646 (nearly a century after the optical or astronomical sense). Both "halos" and "haloes" may be used as plural forms, and halo may be used as a verb. ^[33] Halo comes originally from the Greek for "threshing-floor" - a circular, slightly sloping area kept very clean, around which slaves or oxen walked to thresh the grain. In Greek this came to mean the divine bright disk.

Nimbus means a cloud in Latin, and is found as a divine cloud in 1616, whereas as "a bright or golden disk surrounding the head" it does not appear until 1727. The plural "nimbi" is correct but "rare"; "nimbuses" is not in the OED but sometimes used. "Nimb" is an obsolete form of the noun, but not a verb, except that the obsolete "nimbated", like the commoner "nimbate", means "furnished with a nimbus". It is sometimes preferred by art-historians, as sounding more technical than halo. ^[34]

"Aureole", from the Latin for "golden", has been used in English as a term for a gold crown, especially that traditionally considered the reward of martyrs, since the Middle Ages (OED 1220). The term martyr ( Greek μάρτυς martys "witness" is most commonly used today to describe an individual who sacrifices their life (or personal freedom But the first use recorded as a term for a halo is in 1848, very shortly after which matters were greatly complicated by the publication in 1851 of the English translation of Adolphe Napoléon Didron's important Christian Iconography: Or, The History of Christian Art in the Middle Ages, which by what the OED calls a "strange blunder" derived the word from the Latin "aura" as a diminutive, and also defined it as meaning a halo or glory covering the whole body, whilst saying that "nimbus" referred only to a halo round the head. This, according to the OED, reversed the historical usage of both words, but whilst Didron's diktat was "not accepted in France", the OED noted it had already been picked up by several English dictionaries, and influenced usage in English, which still seems to be the case, as the word is mostly found describing whole-body halos, and seems to have also influenced "gloriole" in the same direction. ^[35]

The only English term that unequivocably means a full-body halo, and cannot be used for a circular disk round the head is "Mandorla", first occurring in 1883. However this is derived from the Italian for "almond" and, at least in describing Christian art, is usually reserved for the vesica pisces shape. The Almond ( Prunus dulcis, syn Prunus amygdalus Batsch Amygdalus communis L The vesica piscis is a Shape which is the intersection of two Circles with the same radius intersecting in such a way that the center of each circle lies on the circumference In discussing Asian art, it is used more widely. ^[36]. Otherwise there could be said to be an excess of words that could refer to either a head-disk or a full-body halo, and no word that clearly denotes a full-body halo that is not vesica pisces shaped. "Halo" by itself, according to recent dictionaries,^[37] means only a circle around the head, although Rhie and Thurman use the word also for circular full-body aureoles. ^[38]

Notes

Further reading

• Christian Iconography: Or, The History of Christian Art in the Middle Ages by Adolphe Napoléon

Didron, Translated by Ellen J. Millington, Published 1851, H. G. Bohn, Original from Harvard University, Digitized for Google Books - Volume I, Part I (pp. 25-165) is concerned with the halo in its different forms, though the book is not up to date.

See also

• Aureola
• Crown of Immortality
• Iconography

External links

• Article on some early Japanese Buddhist halos